TREASURY

11 Downing Street: Art Works

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what items from the Government Art Collection are located within his Ministerial residence in Downing Street.

Angela Eagle: I am arranging for a list of works of art to be deposited in the Libraries of both Houses.

Bank Notes: Visually Impaired

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer pursuant to the answer of 8 October 2008,  Official Report, column 800W, on bank notes: visually impaired, if he will introduce paper currency with marks identifiable by touch to assist visually impaired individuals.

Ian Pearson: The Bank of England is responsible for the design of its banknotes. It consults regularly with the Royal National Institute of Blind People regarding the design of its banknotes and is currently satisfied that the use of different dimensions for the four different denominations is the most effective way of assisting visually impaired individuals. The Bank of England has no plans to introduce new marks identifiable by touch.

Bank Services

Mark Oaten: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will remove the negative control which has been placed on the assets of Landsbanki in the UK.

Ian Pearson: The Government have frozen the funds of Landsbanki to prevent actions being taken which would be to the detriment of the UK economy. We are working constructively with the Icelandic Government to ensure that UK depositors and creditors of Icelandic banks are not unfairly disadvantaged. The Treasury will keep the freezing order under review.

Bank Services

Hugh Robertson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether he plans to take steps to protect commercial depositors in the event of a bank collapsing.

Ian Pearson: The Government has announced a number of measures to maintain financial stability, to protect savers and to rebuild confidence in the financial system. This action is designed to help businesses, individuals and the wider economy.

Bank Services: Charities

John Stanley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether bodies that are  (a) registered charities only,  (b) both registered charities and also companies limited by guarantee and  (c) unincorporated associations are included within the Government's commitment to protect bank deposit holders up to the sum of £50,000.

Ian Pearson: The Financial Services Authority (FSA) is responsible for making the rules of the Financial Services Compensation Scheme (FSCS), including the rule change which increased the compensation limit for bank deposits to £50,000, and the rules which determine whether a body is eligible to claim compensation under the scheme. The increased compensation limit applies in relation to claims by all eligible claimants. The rules on eligibility for FSCS compensation are set out in the FSA handbook which is available on the FSA website. Guidance on eligibility for FSCS compensation is available on the FSCS website.

Bank Services: Local Authorities

Ian Cawsey: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether deposits by  (a) North Lincolnshire Council and  (b) other local authorities in failed overseas banks will be fully protected by the Government.

Ian Pearson: holding answer 14 October 2008
	I refer the hon. Member to the written ministerial statement given by the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government (Hazel Blears) on 14 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 34-36WS.

Borders: Fraud

Dominic Grieve: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many forged documents were confiscated at the UK's borders by HM Revenue and Customs in 2007-08.

Stephen Timms: HMRC officers working within the UK Border Agency act to detect the importation of prohibited and restricted goods at the UK border. In the course of that activity, large numbers of forged documents are seized. These documents are referred to other agencies to investigate. The number of documents seized are not systematically retained.

Financial Services Authority: Pay

Tim Loughton: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer 
	(1)  how many staff employed by the Financial Services Authority were paid over £100,000 including bonuses in the last year for which figures are available;
	(2)  what the pay scales  (a) before and  (b) after bonuses are of staff employed by the Financial Services Authority earning above £100,000;
	(3)  what the total remuneration package is of each of the directors of the Financial Services Authority;
	(4)  how many employees of the Financial Services Authority were paid bonuses in the last 12 months;
	(5)  how many  (a) people and  (b) full-time equivalent staff have been employed by the Financial Services Authority in each year since it was established.

Ian Pearson: These matters are the responsibility of the Financial Services Authority (FSA), whose day to day operations are independent from Government control and influence.

Money Supply

Harry Cohen: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will undertake an investigation of the effects of arrangements for control of the money supply which include creation of it by private financial institutions in the form of credit; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: Monetary policy in the United Kingdom is set by the independent Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England.
	The Capital Requirements Directive implements the international Basel II agreement into EU legislation which stipulates how much of their own financial resources banks and investment firms must have in order to cover their risks. The Financial Services Authority is responsible for implementing the directive in the UK.

Select Committees: Government Responses

Dai Davies: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer when he expects to respond to the Report from the Treasury Select Committee on Banking Reform, HC 1008.

Ian Pearson: The Government expect to respond to the Treasury Committee's report very shortly.

Welfare Tax Credits: Complaints

Jennifer Willott: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many complaints from customers over tax credits his Department has received in each  (a) year and  (b) month since tax credits were introduced, broken down by type of complaint; and if he will make a statement.

Stephen Timms: For information up to and including February 2008, I refer the hon. Member to the answer my predecessor gave the hon. Member for Inverness, Nairn, Badenoch and Strathspey (Danny Alexander) on 1 May 2008,  Official Report, column 634W.
	Information for the period March 2008 to September 2008 is provided in the following table.
	
		
			  2008  Number of complainants (approximate) 
			 March 2,950 
			 April 3,500 
			 May 2,700 
			 June 3,650 
			 July 4,450 
			 August 3,300 
			 September 3,850 
		
	
	Detailed information on the types of complaints, some of which often cover a range of subjects, is not available.

TRANSPORT

Bus Services: Finance

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what grants have been given since 2003 from the Urban Bus Challenge Fund.

Paul Clark: Urban Bus Challenge competitions were held in 2001, 2002 and 2003 and a total of £53 million was awarded in those competitions. No new awards have been made under this scheme since 2003. Annual expenditure since 2003 on projects successful in the competitions has been as follows.
	
		
			  £ million 
			 2003-04 11.1 
			 2004-05 14.3 
			 2005-06 7.1 
			 2006-07 4.8 
			 2007-08 1.9

Buses: Crimes of Violence

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many attacks there were on bus drivers in each of the last five years.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport does not hold data on the numbers of attacks against bus drivers. However, the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) are able to provide the following information:
	
		
			  Attacks against bus and coach drivers 
			   Number of attacks 
			 2002-03 483 
			 2003-04 398 
			 2004-05 403 
			 2005-06 405 
			 2006-07 380 
			 Total 2,069 
			  Source: Data collected by HSE and local authorities under the Reporting of Injuries, Diseases and Dangerous Occurrences Regulations (RIDDOR) 1995 
		
	
	For this period, no fatal injuries to bus drivers involving acts of violence were reported to HSE or local authorities (under RIDDOR).
	It is important to note that incidents involving bus drivers will only be reported to HSE or local authorities if they come into the RIDDOR criteria of 'fatal' or 'major', or if the attack resulted in a period of sick absence of more than three days. There will of course be other instances of less serious violence or verbal attacks which are not recorded centrally. And in many cases, the bus driver concerned may choose to not report the incident to his or her employer.

Driving Tests: Buildings

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport if he will list those purchases of land or buildings made by  (a) his Department and  (b) its agencies as a result of the rationalisation of driving test centres; and when these transactions were conducted.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The Driving Standards Agency has purchased the following land as a result of the multi-purpose test centre (MPTC) project.
	
		
			  Location of land  Transaction conducted 
			 Burgess Hill MPTC, West Sussex January 2008 
			 Enfield MPTC, Middlesex October 2006 
			 Ipswich MPTC, Suffolk January 2006 
			 Colwick MPTC, Nottinghamshire October 2006

Emergency Services: Accidents

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport pursuant to the answer of 14 March 2008,  Official Report, column 473, on emergency services: accidents, how many of those accidents which occurred involving blue light vehicles from the  (a) police force,  (b) fire service and  (c) ambulance service in each of the last five years that resulted in (i) deaths and (ii) serious injuries were on pedestrian crossings.

Jim Fitzpatrick: The number of reported personal injury road accidents involving vehicles from  (a) the police force,  (b) the fire service and  (c) the ambulance service resulting in (i) deaths and (ii) serious injuries on pedestrian crossings in each Government office region in 2002 to 2007 are given in the tables.
	
		
			  (a) Police 
			  Number of fatal accidents 
			  Government office  2006  2007 
			 North West 0 1 
			 West Midlands 1 0 
			 London 0 1 
			 Total 1 2 
		
	
	
		
			  (a) Police 
			  Number of serious accidents 
			  Government office  2002  2003  2004  2006  2007 
			 North East 1 0 0 0 0 
			 North West 0 0 0 1 1 
			 East Midlands 0 0 1 0 0 
			 West Midlands 0 1 0 1 0 
			 South East 0 0 0 1 1 
			 London 0 0 1 1 4 
			 Total 1 1 2 4 6 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Ambulance 
			  Number of fatal accidents 
			  Government office  2005 
			 Wales 1 
			 Total 1 
		
	
	
		
			  (b) Ambulance 
			  Number of serious accidents 
			  Government office  2002  2004  2005  2006  2007 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber 0 1 1 1 0 
			 London 1 2 0 0 1 
			 Total 1 3 1 1 1 
		
	
	There were no fatal or serious accidents involving fire service on pedestrian crossings recorded in 2002 to 2007. Where no Government office region or years are shown, there were no fatal or serious accidents recorded for that Government office region or year.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many vehicles are taxed to drive on UK roads.

Jim Fitzpatrick: As of the 31 December 2007 there were 33,956,832 vehicles taxed to drive on the roads of Great Britain.

Motorcycles: Parking

David Amess: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport 
	(1)  if he will issue guidance to local authorities on regulating the parking of motorcycles in residents' parking bays; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  if he will encourage local authorities to allow motorcycles to park free of charge in  (a) residents' parking bays and  (b) parking bays; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Clark: The Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 gave local authorities flexible powers to provide, charge for, regulate and restrict on-street and off-street parking facilities, in a way that reflects the needs of their local communities. These are matters for local authorities and the Department for Transport has no plans to issue guidance on the use of those powers.
	Where local authorities provide parking bays for use by specific classes of vehicle only, they are responsible for ensuring that the use of those facilities is correctly specified in Traffic Regulation Orders, where necessary, and indicated with appropriate signs and markings. The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 prescribe the traffic signs and road markings for motorcycle parking and for residents' parking bays. The Department for Transport's Traffic Signs Manual also provides detailed guidance on the correct design and use of signs and markings.

Motorways: Accidents

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what average time it took to reopen a motorway to the full flow of traffic after a collision had occurred in the latest period for which figures are available.

Paul Clark: Nationally during September 2008 the average time to reopen a motorway to full flow following a collision was 51 minutes and nine seconds. However, this mean figure is skewed by a small number of more severe incidents. The median time taken to restore full capacity was 24 minutes.

Pedestrian Crossings

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what plans he has better to publicise knowledge of the knurled knob on pelican crossings for those with disabilities and children.

Paul Clark: The Government have no wide reaching plans to publicise the provision of rotating cones (knurled knobs) at some controlled pedestrian crossings, but are aware of such knowledge being part of mobility training by organisations such as RNIB and Guide Dogs for the Blind UK.

Railways

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport when he plans to respond to the Office of the Rail Regulator's review of the rail network draft determination.

Paul Clark: My officials submitted the Department for Transport's response to the Office of Rail Regulation's (ORR) 5 June publication, "Periodic Review 2008: Draft Determinations", on 4 September. The response has been published on the ORR website at:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/upload/pdf/DDresp-dft-040908.pdf

Railways: Fares

Phyllis Starkey: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport what assessment he has made of the effect of the recent 10 per cent. increases in off-peak fares between Milton Keynes and London Euston on London Midland's franchise commitment to increase passenger numbers.

Paul Clark: No assessment has been made of the fares changes brought into effect in September. These are unregulated fares, the levels of which are managed by London Midland.

Railways: Gloucestershire

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many submissions the Office of the Rail Regulator received as part of its review of the rail network draft determinations; how many of these related to the redoubling of the Kemble to Swindon track; and if he will publish the responses received.

Paul Clark: The Office of Rail Regulation (ORR) had a total of 114 responses to the draft determinations. Of these there were 40 that related to the Swindon-Kemble scheme. All 114 responses have been published on the ORR website with the Swindon-Kemble responses being available at:
	http://www.rail-reg.gov.uk/server/show/ConWebDoc.9204

Railways: Manpower

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many of his Department's staff are working on  (a) high speed rail development and  (b) the reopening of former railway lines and stations as part of their official duties.

Paul Clark: The Department for Transport's approach to developing transport strategy, set out in the October 2007 White Paper "Towards a Sustainable Transport System", proceeds from the identification of transport challenges and specific problems to be resolved, rather than by developing specific potential investment options.
	The Department's rail network strategy division is working on this basis, and Network Rail has been invited to examine options for supporting further growth in the longer term, which might include new lines. Network Rail's new lines study is due to be completed in summer 2009.

Unadopted Roads

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Transport how many streets he estimates have remained unadopted for over  (a) 75 years and  (b) 100 years.

Paul Clark: We have no record of how many streets have remained unadopted for 75 or 100 years after they were built. This information is not held centrally, and there is no legal requirement for local authorities to maintain such a list in their areas.

ENERGY AND CLIMATE CHANGE

Act on Carbon Dioxide

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change how many enquiries the Energy Saving Trust's Act on carbon dioxide advice line has dealt with in each month since April 2008.

Joan Ruddock: The Act on CO2 advice line, launched in April 2008, provides consumers with comprehensive advice on how to reduce their carbon footprint.
	The Act on CO2 advice line run on behalf of the government by the Energy Savings Trust has dealt with the following inbound telephone inquiries each month since April:
	
		
			  Month  Number of successful inbound calls excluding Scotland 
			 April 31,586 
			 May 23,019 
			 June 27,914 
			 July 34,274 
			 August 33,708 
			 September 93,377 
		
	
	The Energy Saving Trust's total customer contacts will increase through outreach events and other initiatives, customers will also receive advice via feedback on completed home energy checks and through electronic media.

WORK AND PENSIONS

Departmental Pay

Philip Hammond: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how much was claimed in reimbursable expenses by press officers in his Department in each of the last three financial years.

Jonathan R Shaw: The information on reimbursable expenses is available only at disproportionate cost.

Disability Living Allowance: Students

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what restrictions there are on the use by students of disability living allowance to purchase equipment related to their disability.

Jonathan R Shaw: There are no restrictions on what customers of disability living allowance can spend their benefit on. Customers are free to spend the benefit according to their own priorities.

Members: Correspondence

Michael Spicer: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions when he plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for West Worcestershire of 19 August, transferred from HM Treasury (PO reference: 1/60002/2008), on the poverty line for couples.

Tony McNulty: A reply was sent to the hon. Member on 13 October 2008.

Occupational Pensions

Mark Todd: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what the average occupational pension payable in the UK was in 2007-08.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 14 October 2008
	The information requested is not available.
	Information on the amount of occupational pension received by people of pension age can be found in table 3.7 of the publication 'The Pensioners' Incomes Series 2006/07' which may be found in the Library.

Pensioners: Overseas Residence

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what states are designated as non-qualifying destinations for the annual state pension uprating payable to UK pensioners overseas;
	(2)  what reason the annual pension uprating is withheld from state pensioners who have relocated to certain overseas countries on retirement; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 15 October 2008
	The UK state pension is payable world-wide but is only uprated abroad where there is a legal requirement to do so.
	Annual upratings of the UK state pension are paid abroad under the EC's Social Security Regulations to pensioners who have a UK state pension and are living in the European economic area and Switzerland.
	Upratings are also payable in countries and territories with which the UK has a reciprocal social security agreement that requires increases to be paid. The UK has such agreements covering: Barbados; Bermuda; Bosnia-Herzegovina; Croatia; Guernsey; Isle of Man; Israel; Jamaica; Jersey; Mauritius; Montenegro; the Philippines; Serbia; Turkey; the United States of America; and, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia.
	The UK state pension is not annually uprated in any other country.
	 Notes
	1. The agreement with Guernsey covers also Alderney, Herm and Jethou.
	2. UK state pension recipients on other Channel Islands receive upratings under Regulation 12 of the Social Security (Persons Abroad) Regulations 1975 (SI 1975/563).
	3. The agreement with United States of America covers also American Samoa, Guam, the Northern Mariana Islands, Puerto Rico and the US Virgin Islands).

Pensioners: Overseas Residence

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the cost of extending the benefit of the annual state pension uprating to UK citizens in receipt of state pensions who are resident in Australia, Canada and South Africa; and if he will make a statement.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 15 October 2008
	To uprate UK state pensions paid to persons in Australia, Canada and South Africa would cost approximately £380 million in 2008-09 and would increase year on year.
	 Notes
	1. This figure does not include paying any arrears.
	2. The estimate for the cost of unfreezing frozen-rate pensions includes estimates for the rate of increase of the caseload and the impact of turnover in the caseload between the time of the data sample and the time of the uprating.
	 Source
	September 2007 Retirement Pension and Widows Benefit administrative data, 5 per cent. sample.

Pensioners: Overseas Residence

John Mason: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many persons entitled to UK state pensions are not entitled to the annual state pension uprating by reason of their location overseas.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 15 October 2008
	The latest estimate of the number of UK state pensions paid to pensioners living in frozen rate countries is approximately 530,000.
	 Source
	Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, 100 per cent. data, February 2008

Post Office Card Account: Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  whether a disability impact assessment was carried out on the tendering process for the Post Office Card Account contract;
	(2)  what accessibility criteria were included in the tender for the Post Office card account contract.

Rosie Winterton: holding answer 14 October 2008
	The Invitation to Tender requested that potential suppliers provide details of their facilities for disabled people and supplier responses were considered during the tender evaluation to ensure compliance with the Disability Discrimination Acts of 1995 and 2005. The successful supplier will be contractually bound to provide the services in accordance with these Acts.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions 
	(1)  what steps he is taking to reduce the levels of fraud and error in the benefit system;
	(2)  what steps his Department is taking to tackle benefit fraud.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 14 October 2008
	 The Government are committed to paying the right benefits to the right people at the right time. As part of that commitment we have specific strategies in place to tackle both fraud and error.
	We have a well defined and successful strategy for tackling benefit fraud based on preventing, detecting and deterring fraud. Strategy initiatives include professionally qualified investigators, a hard hitting media campaign and cross checking information on benefit claims against other data sources.
	At 0.6 per cent. of benefit expenditure, fraud is at its lowest ever level. This is down from 2 per cent. in 2000-01. But we are not complacent and are introducing innovative new measures such as data matching with credit reference agencies and piloting voice risk analysis.
	We are now applying the same drive and determination to tackle error. In January 2006, the Department created a task force with a specific aim of reducing official error in the most vulnerable benefits and has subsequently published and implemented its first ever error reduction strategy, published in January 2007. The strategy addresses both over and underpayments and is based on preventing new error from entering the system; ensuring that customers and staff comply with benefit rules and identifying and correcting existing errors.
	The Department has also established a dedicated Benefit Simplification Unit to tackle complexity in the benefits system which is a major cause of error.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people did not receive benefits to which they were entitled due to  (a) fraud and  (b) error in the benefit system in each of the last five years.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 14 October 2008
	 Information is not available.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what estimate he has made of the proportion of all cases of fraud and error in the benefit system that arose from misdirected mail in the latest period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 October 2008
	 The information requested is not available. However, this Department has an agreement with Royal Mail not to redirect benefit related communications sent to customers by the Department and local authorities.

Social Security Benefits: Fraud

Paddy Tipping: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many benefit payments were made in error due to fraud arising from the impersonation of the deceased in the latest period for which figures are available.

Tony McNulty: holding answer 15 October 2008
	 The information requested is not available. However we cross check our records with the Office for National Statistics on a weekly basis to capture information on deaths recorded with the local registrars so benefit payments can be stopped immediately in such cases.

Unemployment

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many times the definition of the unemployment claimant count and any inclusions to or exclusions from that count have changed since 1997; and what the reason for the change was in each case.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many times the definition of the unemployment claimant count and any inclusions to or exclusions from that count have changed since 1997; and what the reason for the change was in each case. (226203)
	The definition of the unemployment claimant count has not changed since 1997, following the introduction of Jobseeker's Allowance in 1996.
	Although not a change to the definition of the unemployment claimant count, the introduction of the system of joint claims for Jobseeker's Allowance from 2001 has meant that both members of certain couples are now required to claim JSA jointly and both are required to look for work. This change has led to certain claims being counted as two separate claims when they would previously have appeared as one claim. Without this change, the current level of the unemployment claimant count would be about 9,000 lower than it currently is.

LEADER OF THE HOUSE

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Leader of the House how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day her Office has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date.

Chris Bryant: The Leader of the House of Commons has substantively answered 100 per cent. of the 34 named day questions on the specified date so far in the current parliamentary session.
	The information is available on the Commons Leader website at:
	www.commonsleader.gov.uk.

Parliamentary Session

John Baron: To ask the Leader of the House (1) how many hours the House sat in each session  (a) in 1980,  (b) in 1990 and  (c) in each session between 1996 and 2006;

John Baron: To ask the Leader of the House how many hours the House spent considering  (a) primary legislation on the Floor of the House and  (b) delegated legislation (i) in Committee and (ii) on the floor of the House in each session commencing in (A) 1980, (B) 1990 and (C) each session between 1996 and 2006. [Official Report, 10 November 2008, Vol. 482, c. 3MC.]

Chris Bryant: The information given in the table is available in the sessional information digests:
	http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm/cmsid.htm
	
		
			   Number of hours the house sat each session  Number of hours considering primary legislation on the floor of the house  Number of hours considering delegated legislation on the floor of the house 
			   Hours  Minutes  Hours  Minutes  Hours  Minutes 
			 1980-81 1,485 11 n/a  n/a  
			 1990-91 1,373 53 393 64 65 50 
			 1996-97 717 45 221 41 45 88 
			 1997-98 2,117 36 859 45 42 65 
			 1998- 99 1,378 50 458 64 36 62 
			 1999-2000 1,442 41 640 66 31 88 
			 2000-01 690 27 283 36 26 82 
			 2001-02 1,540 40 676 93 24 58 
			 2002-03 1,287 15 484 53 18 12 
			 2003-04 1,215 19 460 89 14 35 
			 2004-05 531 16 216 15 9 30 
			 2005-06 1,572 07 701 79 18 09 
			 2006-07 1,118 52 367 04 17 61 
			 n/a = Not available. Up until the 1984-85 session the sitting hours were not broken down. Therefore, only the total number of sitting hours can be provided. 
		
	
	The number of hours considering primary legislation and delegated legislation in committee can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

JUSTICE

Departmental Procurement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small- and medium-sized businesses were paid within 30 days of receipt by  (a) his Department and  (b) the agencies for which his Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if he will make a statement.

Michael Wills: The proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from all businesses paid within 30 days of receipt in 2007-08 is as follows:
	
		
			Percentage 
			  (a) Ministry of Justice Core Department(1) 90 
			  (b) Executive agencies of the Ministry of Justice(2) 77 
			 (1) Ministry of Justice Core Department includes former Department for Constitutional Affairs HQ, Wales Office, Scotland Office, Office for Criminal Justice Reform and National Offender Management Service HQ elements.  (2) Executive agencies for the Ministry of Justice include HM Courts Service, Tribunals Service, Office of the Public Guardian and HM Prison Service. 
		
	
	The Ministry has launched a major drive to improve this performance towards the target of paying 100 per cent. of correctly rendered invoices within 30 days. Two of the main actions are to enforce compliance with purchasing processes within the Ministry, and to reinforce the policy with suppliers that they are required to send their invoices directly to the Shared Service Centre which processes payments centrally, rather than to individual offices around the Ministry.
	The proportion of invoices paid within 30 days of receipt for small and medium sized businesses could be provided only at a disproportionate cost, as the Department does not currently hold this information.
	The Ministry welcomes the initiative announced by the Prime Minister in Prime Minister's Questions on 8 October 2008, and is preparing plans to pay all small and medium-sized enterprises within 10 days of receipt of invoice.

Departmental Reviews

Adam Afriyie: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what progress has been made in the interdepartmental review on representative actions; and how many officials have responsibility for the review, broken down by pay band.

Bridget Prentice: An inter-departmental steering group of officials has been established to consider this issue. It has met twice, most recently on 29 September, and has agreed to organise a meeting with the Civil Justice Council (CJC) to discuss its interim report. The group will advise ministers on the way forward early next year, following publication of the CJC's final report. This process is being managed by two Ministry of Justice officials at Band A and Band B (under the oversight of a member of the senior civil service). None of these officials work exclusively on this area.

Lancaster Farms Young Offender Institute

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what steps he plans to take to relieve overcrowding on the young offenders side of Her Majesty's Young Offender Institute, Lancaster Farms in order to allow ex-juvenile offenders to transfer from the juvenile side on reaching their 18th birthday.

David Hanson: The policy of the Youth Justice Board is that those young people serving a Detention and Training Order aged 18 and over in a Prison Service unit should remain in the young persons' estate to complete the custodial part of their sentence unless there are exceptional personal or population management circumstances which require them to be moved to the young adult estate.
	For those sentenced to longer sentences, arrangements are in place to ensure that within a month of their 18th birthday they are relocated to the young adult estate.

Prisoners

Edward Garnier: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how long on average elapsed between the time that prisoners were unlocked in the morning and returned to their cells in the evening in the last three months for which figures are available; and what the average number of returns to and releases during the day was  (a) on weekdays and  (b) at weekends, broken down by each (i) adult (A) male and (B) female prison and (ii) (1) male and (2) female young offender institution in England and Wales.

David Hanson: The average weekday time out of cell for the last three available months is shown in the following table. Data are provisional and subject to ongoing validation.
	
		
			   Average weekday time out of cell 
			 May 9.53 
			 June 9.57 
			 July 9.72 
		
	
	The National Offender Management Service does not collate data on the number of returns to cells and releases from cells during the day, on  (a) weekdays and  (b) weekends. Therefore, this data cannot be provided for each prison.

Prisoners

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice 
	(1)  how many prisoners from London are being held in prisons outside London;
	(2)  how many prisoners were held in prisons outside the criminal justice area of their last known address in each of the last 10 years, broken down by criminal justice area.

David Hanson: As at March 2008 (the latest date for which data are available), 11,200 prisoners out of a total of 16,600 prisoners who gave London as their home area were held outside of London. This issue is one of the reasons why we are seeking to extend capacity through the larger prison programme in London and the South East.
	Data on the distance from criminal justice area are only available from 2005 onwards and is shown in the tables.
	Average figures for distance from home for prisoners are 50 miles for men and 58 miles for women.
	
		
			   September 2005  September 2006 
			  CJ area  Number of prisoners from area  Number of prisoners from CJ area held outside area  Proportion of prisoners held out of CJ area (Percentage)  Number of prisoners from area  Number of prisoners from CJ area held outside area  Proportion of prisoners held out of CJ area (Percentage) 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,727 1,157 67 1,699 1,162 68 
			 Bedfordshire 881 641 73 938 733 78 
			 Cambridgeshire 779 423 54 834 487 58 
			 Cheshire 1,337 1,047 78 1,287 1,012 79 
			 Cleveland 1,353 707 52 1,217 641 53 
			 Cumbria 471 390 83 495 413 83 
			 Derbyshire 1,052 1,004 95 1,115 1,071 96 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,474 693 47 1,325 547 41 
			 Dorset 610 293 48 682 354 52 
			 Durham 409 327 80 696 537 77 
			 Dyfed-Powys 386 386 100 430 430 100 
			 Essex 1,453 1,090 75 1,543 1,201 78 
			 Gloucestershire 487 322 66 558 408 73 
			 Greater Manchester 5,063 2,670 53 5,212 2,907 56 
			 Gwent 498 465 93 583 534 92 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1,969 1,078 55 1,996 1,145 57 
			 Hertfordshire 837 783 94 917 876 96 
			 Humberside 1,509 750 50 1,393 689 49 
			 Kent 2,059 618 30 2,049 790 39 
			 Lancashire 2,391 1,056 44 2,400 1,134 47 
			 Leicestershire 1,150 645 56 1,184 681 58 
			 Lincolnshire 598 375 63 609 416 68 
			 London 12,690 7,632 60 13,548 8,584 63 
			 Merseyside 2,848 1,816 64 3,268 2,199 67 
			 Norfolk 824 431 52 775 393 51 
			 North Wales 657 657 100 654 654 100 
			 North Yorkshire 679 663 98 720 706 98 
			 Northamptonshire 824 648 79 895 724 81 
			 Northumbria 1,832 1,344 73 1,821 1,338 73 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,917 1,332 69 1,994 1,379 69 
			 South Wales 2,058 818 40 2,031 764 38 
			 South Yorkshire 2,394 1,108 46 2,516 1,275 51 
			 Staffordshire 1,346 999 74 1,207 921 76 
			 Suffolk 556 472 85 650 538 83 
			 Surrey 629 392 62 747 496 66 
			 Sussex 1,590 1,106 70 1,619 1,122 69 
			 Thames Valley 2,028 917 45 2,220 1,104 50 
			 Warwickshire 657 657 100 507 507 100 
			 West Mercia 1,287 843 66 1,153 762 66 
			 West Midlands 4,825 3,712 77 5,984 4,810 80 
			 West Yorkshire 3,842 2,072 54 3,926 2,231 57 
			 Wiltshire 405 371 92 465 423 91 
		
	
	
		
			   September 2007  March 2008 
			  CJ area  Number of prisoners from area  Number of prisoners from CJ area held outside area  Proportion of prisoners held out of CJ area (Percentage)  Number of prisoners from area  Number of prisoners from CJ area held outside area  Proportion of prisoners held out of CJ area (Percentage) 
			 Avon and Somerset 1,633 1,125 69 1,705 1,187 70 
			 Bedfordshire 835 654 78 884 686 78 
			 Cambridgeshire 845 497 59 882 532 60 
			 Cheshire 1,222 1,062 87 1,206 1,073 89 
			 Cleveland 1,246 712 57 1,245 697 56 
			 Cumbria 531 464 87 521 417 80 
			 Derbyshire 1,147 1,098 96 1,139 1,076 94 
			 Devon and Cornwall 1,295 574 44 1,232 575 47 
			 Dorset 644 377 59 651 403 62 
			 Durham 634 495 78 681 526 77 
			 Dyfed-Powys 223 223 100 253 253 100 
			 Essex 1,479 1,087 73 1,521 1,161 76 
			 Gloucestershire 581 449 77 584 457 78 
			 Greater Manchester 5,596 3,150 56 5,665 3,247 57 
			 Gwent 593 524 88 585 516 88 
			 Hampshire and Isle of Wight 1,975 1,229 62 1,956 1,212 62 
			 Hertfordshire 739 709 96 769 747 97 
			 Humberside 1,491 728 49 1,544 780 51 
			 Kent 1,987 825 42 1,988 867 44 
			 Lancashire 2,437 1,177 48 2,318 1,082 47 
			 Leicestershire 1,098 745 68 1,102 768 70 
			 Lincolnshire 636 413 65 647 403 62 
			 London 16,203 10,793 67 16,664 11,218 67 
			 Merseyside 3,120 1,949 62 3,214 1,973 61 
			 Norfolk 812 480 59 814 517 64 
			 North Wales 752 752 100 782 782 100 
			 North Yorkshire 668 637 95 632 603 95 
			 Northamptonshire 1,011 845 84 969 794 82 
			 Northumbria 1,953 1,411 72 1,863 1,334 72 
			 Nottinghamshire 1,858 1,287 69 1,954 1,385 71 
			 South Wales 2,281 752 33 2,373 784 33 
			 South Yorkshire 2,502 1,211 48 2,512 1,234 49 
			 Staffordshire 1,266 981 77 1,298 993 77 
			 Suffolk 553 462 84 571 483 85 
			 Surrey 631 424 67 642 426 66 
			 Sussex 1,719 1,259 73 1,704 1,212 71 
			 Thames Valley 2,198 1,145 52 2,171 1,166 54 
			 Warwickshire 561 561 100 490 490 100 
			 West Mercia 1,065 748 70 1,114 779 70 
			 West Midlands 5,573 4,633 83 5,807 4,788 82 
			 West Yorkshire 3,907 2,534 65 4,054 2,764 68 
			 Wiltshire 421 388 92 444 407 92

Prisoners: Employment

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what partnerships each prison developed with external companies to provide  (a) training and  (b) work for prisoners in each of the last five years.

David Hanson: The National Offender Management Service (NOMS) has a significant number of relationships, including partnerships and commercial contracts, with private, public and voluntary sector organisations aimed at providing training and work for prisoners. Governors have for some time been encouraged to develop a range of local initiatives in this area. NOMS has just begun a process of mapping these activities. I will write to the hon. Member when the exercise is complete.

Prisons: Drugs

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many hours of training  (a) on average and  (b) in total prison governors have received relating to illegal drugs in the last 12 months.

David Hanson: The National Offender Management Service does not hold central records of all the training undertaken by governors or other prison staff. Any such information would be recorded at a local level and collating this information would incur disproportionate costs.
	HM Prison Service attaches great importance to the learning and development of all staff, including prison officers, ensuring that they are equipped with the right skills at the right time in their Prison Service career. This includes NOMS drugs strategy.

WALES

Christmas

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many Christmas functions  (a) he,  (b) officials from his Department and  (c) officials from its Executive agencies (i) hosted and (ii) attended in 2007-08; what the cost to the public purse was; and if he will make a statement.

Paul Murphy: We have details of receptions given by the Wales Office. My predecessor hosted two Christmas receptions in the financial year 2007-08, one in London and one in Cardiff. They were attended by parliamentarians, journalists and those with an interest in Welsh affairs generally. The cost was £5,058.

Departmental Marketing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what assessment he has made of the cost-effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of his Department.

Paul Murphy: The Wales Office has not commissioned any advertising in the last 12 months.

Departmental Public Participation

Theresa May: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales how many citizens' juries his Department has held since 1 July 2007; what the cost was of each; what issues were discussed at each event; and how many  (a) Ministers and  (b) members of the public attended each event.

Paul Murphy: None.

Referendums

Adam Price: To ask the Secretary of State for Wales what the policy of the Government is on the submission to Parliament of any request for a referendum made by the Welsh Assembly Government during the present term of the Assembly under Part IV of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

Paul Murphy: Any request for a referendum made by the Welsh Assembly Government would be dealt with under the provision of section 104 and schedule 6 of the Government of Wales Act 2006.

OLYMPICS

Olympic Games 2012: Voluntary Organisations

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister for the Olympics which voluntary organisations she has met to discuss their involvement in the delivery and legacy aspects of the 2012 Games; and what the outcome has been of these discussions.

Tessa Jowell: Voluntary organisations are key to the Government's vision for 2012. I have met a number of them including Cancer Research, Fields in Trust, the Prince's Trust, Sport England, Thames 21, V, Volunteering England, the Work Foundation and the Youth Sport Trust, and have addressed over two hundred representatives of these and other local and national voluntary organisations at various events. These events have informed the Government's ambition for encouraging tens of thousands more young people to give time to their local communities, directly or indirectly, as a result of the Games as set out in the published Legacy Action Plan. More information can be found at
	http://www.culture.gov.uk/images/publications/2012Legacy ActionPlan.pdf.
	I continue to liaise with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games as it develops its recruitment programme for volunteers needed to deliver the Games in 2012, which is to be launched in 2010.

PRIME MINISTER

Written Questions: Government Responses

Peter Luff: To ask the Prime Minister if he will review the accuracy of the answer given by his predecessor to the hon. Member for Mid Worcestershire on 12 November 1997 relating to Formula One sponsorship to ensure any inaccuracies and inadvertently misleading statements are corrected.

Gordon Brown: I refer the hon. Member to the statement made by Mr. Speaker on 13 October 2008,  Official Report, column 557.

CULTURE MEDIA AND SPORT

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many closure notices have been issued under section 169A of the Licensing Act 2003 for persistently selling alcohol to children.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The offence only came into force on 7 April 2007. The latest available licensing statistics cover the period until 31 March 2007 and are therefore outside the period of this offence coming into force. We have asked for data during our most recent statistics collection covering the period from 1 March 2007 to 31 March 2008, so we anticipate having figures when these are published on 31 October.

Arts

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport which regional development agencies will pilot creative economy strategic frameworks; and when he expects the pilots to  (a) begin and  (b) end.

Barbara Follett: The Regional Creative Economy Strategic Frameworks are being piloted by the North West Regional Development Agency and the South West Regional Development Agency.
	The south west's pilot started on 19 May 2008 and is expected to end in January 2010.
	The north west's pilot began in May 2008. They will report on their consultation in January 2009. The recommendations will then be incorporated into the region's Integrated Regional Strategy in 2010.

Arts

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport by what date he expects to have developed the Menu for Local Infrastructure to be used by local authorities to attract creative industries to their area.

Barbara Follett: The Menu for Local Infrastructure will be developed by the Local Government Association (LGA) with the support of the regional development agencies, DCMS and others. The LGA plans to publish the menu in the spring of 2009, according to current timetables.

Churches: Repairs and Maintenance

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what recent discussions English Heritage has had with representatives of  (a) the Roman Catholic Church and  (b) non-conformist churches on the repair and upkeep of church buildings.

Barbara Follett: English Heritage has advised that it holds regular discussions with faith groups including the Roman Catholic and non-conformist churches about the repair and upkeep of church buildings. They meet formally through its Places of Worship Forum which sits four times a year. English Heritage's Inspired! is the umbrella campaign for all its support for places of worship.

Cycling: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much funding has been allocated to support  (a) individual cyclists and  (b) the British Cycling Federation from (i) the National Lottery and (ii) his Department as grant-in-aid in each year since 1997.

Gerry Sutcliffe: Funding in support of British Cyclists and the British Cycling Federation is provided by Sport England and UK Sport. Sport England and UK Sport have advised that detailed breakdowns of funding for individual athletes could be provided only at disproportionate cost, but they have provided figures for overall grants in each year since 1997 as follows:
	
		
			  Sport England funding 
			   Lottery  Exchequer 
			   World Class Programme Funding  One Stop Plan Funding  Everyday Cycling Programme  Club and Coach Programme  Development Funding  PE and School Sport for Young People  National Sports Foundation 
			 1997-98 19,679 0 0 0 No record 0 0 
			 1998-99 0 0 0 0 159,000 0 0 
			 1999-2000 385,360 0 0 0 276,000 0 0 
			 2000-01 13,729,927 0 0 0 270,000 0 0 
			 2001-02 1,885,877 0 0 0 270,000 0 0 
			 2002-03 4,217,719 0 0 0 277,500 0 0 
			 2003-04 672,110 200,000 0 0 207,350 0 0 
			 2004-05 6,589 75,000 0 0 270,000 90,000 0 
			 2005-06 5,000 2,915,000 0 0 0 95,000 0 
			 2006-07 0 4,176,000 0 0 0 122,500 314,762 
			 2007-08 0 195,000 250,000 2,138,032 0 122,500 112,500 
			 2008-09 0 0 250,000 0 0 117,500 0 
		
	
	
		
			  UK Sport funding 
			  £ 
			   Lottery  Exchequer 
			   NGB  APA  NGB  Total 
			 1997-98 325,000 487,000 334,000 1,146,000 
			 1998-99 711,000 765,000 393,000 1,869,000 
			 1999-2000 1,412,000 722,000 375,000 2,509,000 
			 2000-01 1,546,000 895,000 0 2,441,000 
			 2001-02 2,113,000 398,000 385,000 2,896,000 
			 2002-03 1,306,000 420,000 440,000 2,166,000 
			 2003-04 1,628,000 437,000 450,000, 2,515,000 
			 2004-05 1,873,000 458,000 612,000 2,943,000 
			 2005-06 0 553,000 2,632,000 3,185,000 
			 2006-07 1,913,000 742,000 3,820,000 6,475,000 
			 2007-08 1,636,000 969,000 4,208,000 6,813,000 
			  14,463,000 6,846,000 13,649,000 34,958,000 
		
	
	Additionally, in the financial year 2001-02 UK Sport allocated £37,486 of lottery funding to host the World Track Cycling Championships.

Departmental Land

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what use has been made of the income relating to the sale by his Department of the land to the north of the British Library.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department is retaining £39.8 million from the sale of this asset. £30 million of this will be used to meet the CSR asset disposal target and has been allocated accordingly. The balance was used to part fund the purchase of the D'Offay art collection by the Tate Galleries.

Departmental Public Expenditure

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how much of his Department's spending on administration in 2007-08 was in relation to  (a) the 2012 Olympics,  (b) the arts,  (c) sports,  (d) heritage,  (e) tourism,  (f) licensing and  (g) the creative industries.

Andy Burnham: The administration costs (the direct costs of departmental policy development and implementation) directly relating to each area of responsibility were as follows.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games 5,480,000 
			 Arts 1,826,000 
			 Sports 1,827,000 
			 Heritage (architecture and the built environment only) 1,315,000 
			 Tourism and licensing 1,220,000 
			 The creative industries (including broadcasting) 2,562,000 
		
	
	Tourism, licensing and other policy responsibilities for the hospitality industry were the responsibility of a single division, and it is not possible to disaggregate the costs without incurring disproportionate cost.

Departmental Surveys

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what steps he has taken in response to the findings from his Department's most recent annual staff survey.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Department had its last staff survey in June 2007. The results were presented to the Executive Committee in September 2007. Following on from this the Evidence and Analysis Unit in the Department developed a pulse survey to go out to a sample of staff on a regular basis to measure progress against the action plan to support the transformation programme.

English Heritage

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what income his Department received from English Heritage in each of the last 10 years.

Barbara Follett: In each of the last 10 years my Department has received rental income from English Heritage as set out in the table.
	
		
			  £ 
			   Retained by DCMS  Surrendered to the Consolidated Fund 
			 1998-99 0 863,000 
			 1999-00 0 863,000 
			 2000-01 0 863,000 
			 2001-02 0 863,000 
			 2002-03 0 863,000 
			 2003-04 0 863,000 
			 2004-05 0 863,000 
			 2005-06 0 872,000 
			 2006-07 0 0 
			 2007-08 0 0

English Heritage: Fees and Charges

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what the average price of entry to an English Heritage property was in each of the last three years.

Barbara Follett: The information requested has been provided by English Heritage and is set out in the following table. The average charge shown is based on one full-price adult ticket. English Heritage has over 400 sites in its care of which around 112 are staffed and charge admission. The remaining sites are free to visit.
	
		
			   Maximum charge (£)  Minimum charge (£)  Average charge (£)  Number of sites 
			 2005-06 8.95 2.00 3.66 116 
			 2006-07 9.50 2.00 3.82 117 
			 2007-08 9.80 2.40 4.09 112 
		
	
	The main reason that entry fees for English Heritage sites have gone up faster than the rate of inflation is the investment at many key sites. English Heritage has invested over £21 million to improve the visitor experience at sites like Kenilworth, Battle Abbey and Audley End. English Heritage average admission prices have traditionally been behind that of the market. In 2007-08 the average adult admission charge for English Heritage properties was £4.09, while the average for all attractions in England was £5.00.

Invest to Save Budget

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many Invest to Save bids were sponsored by his Department in each of the last three years.

Andy Burnham: The following table shows how many Invest to Save bids were sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport in the last three years.
	
		
			   Bid round  Bids sponsored 
			 2005-06 8 12 
			 2006-07 9 1 
			 2007-08 (1)— 0 
			 (1) ISB ceased.

National Lottery: Bolton

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport how many projects in Bolton North East have received awards from National Lottery funding bodies; and how much those awards came to in total.

Gerry Sutcliffe: 390 projects in the Bolton North East constituency have received lottery funding with a total value of £51,590,068.
	These figures refer only to grants specifically located within, and benefiting the constituency area and excludes those grants which may have been attributed to addresses in the constituency, to headquarters offices for example, but which have a wider geographical benefit. These figures are derived from the Department's lottery grants database, which uses information supplied by lottery distributors and is searchable at:
	www.lottery.culture.gov.uk

National Lottery: Yorkshire and the Humber

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what proportion of Lottery funding available has been awarded to organisations in  (a) Leeds and  (b) Yorkshire over the last 12 months.

Gerry Sutcliffe: The Leeds local authority area received 0.99 per cent. of the funding made available by the Lottery distributors over the period 10 October 2007 to 10 October 2008. The Yorkshire and the Humber region received 7.39 per cent. over the same period.
	Lottery grants are not awarded on a geographical basis but are made in response to the quality of applications received and against the distributing bodies' funding criteria.
	The figures quoted refer only to grants specifically located within, and benefiting the Leeds local authority area and the Yorkshire and the Humber region and excludes those grants which may have been attributed to addresses in these areas, to headquarters offices for example, but which have a wider geographical benefit. These grant figures are derived from the Department's lottery grants database, which uses information supplied by Lottery distributors and is searchable at
	www.lottery.culture.gov.uk.

Public Libraries

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when he expects the modernisation review of England's public library service to report.

Barbara Follett: The Library Service Modernisation Review is expected to report in the spring of 2009.

Regional Cultural Consortiums: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport what funding he has allocated for regional cultural consortia in each of the next three years.

Barbara Follett: The Regional Cultural Consortiums currently receive annual grant in aid of approximately £1.7 million. The Consortiums are in the process of being dissolved and will all cease to operate 31 March 2009. No further funding has been allocated to the Consortiums beyond this date.
	We are providing an extra £50,000 per annum per region in 2009-10 and £25,000 per annum per region in 2010-11 to the four key public bodies, to assist them in developing and implementing their plans for the new arrangements in their regions.

World Heritage Sites

Peter Viggers: To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport when the guidelines for applicants for World Heritage Status will be published.

Barbara Follett: The Government will publish a consultation document on its UK World Heritage Review shortly. Should we decide, following the outcome of the consultation, to revise the current UK Tentative List, appropriate guidelines on applications for inclusion on the List will be made available

SCOTLAND

Departmental Recruitment

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how much  (a) his Department and  (b) its executive agencies spent on (i) recruitment consultants and (ii) external recruitment advertising to recruit staff in each of the last five financial years; which recruitment consultants were employed for those purposes in each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Ann McKechin: The Scotland Office has incurred no costs on recruitment consultants in the last five years; in 2006-07, the Office spent £8,069 on recruitment advertising.

Departmental Written Questions

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many and what proportion of written questions for answer on a named day questions his Department has answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament to date.

Ann McKechin: Details of the percentage of written named day questions answered on the due date in the current session of Parliament are shown in the following table:
	
		
			   Number of named day questions tabled  Percentage of named day questions answered on the date specified 
			  2007   
			 November 9 78 
			 December 2 0 
			  2008   
			 January 3 100 
			 February 0 n/a 
			 March 0 n/a 
			 April 1 100 
			 May 1 100 
			 June 1 0 
			 July 0 n/a 
			 September 1 100

DEFENCE

Aircraft Carriers: Shipbuilding

Tobias Ellwood: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence when the first plate of metal for each of the two new aircraft carriers will be cut.

Quentin Davies: The formal cutting of the first plate of metal for each of the new aircraft carriers corresponds with the start of production in the main shipyards, which is expected to commence in early 2009 for HMS Queen Elizabeth and mid-2010 for HMS Prince of Wales. However, long lead items, including steel, have been procured.

Armed Forces: Dogs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military working dogs his Department had in each year since 1997, broken down by type of dog.

Kevan Jones: At 1 August 2008, holdings of Military Working Dogs by type were:
	
		
			  Type  Total 
			 Patrol Dogs 512 
			 Army/RAF Police 21 
			 Police Dogs 223 
			 Arms and Explosive Search 89 
			 Vehicle Search 35 
			 Drug Detection 8 
			 Multi Purpose Drug Detection 11 
			 Tracker 10 
			 Infantry Patrol 2 
			 Explosive Detection Dog 0 
			 Total 911 
		
	
	This figure is a snapshot in time, and includes those dogs being trained, those in service in the UK and those deployed on operations. It should be noted that the number of holdings may vary weekly according to training input and outflow, together with operational demand. The Ministry of Defence is currently reviewing its holdings of Military Working Dogs to ensure that its holdings meet its requirements.
	Information for previous years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Dogs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how much on average it cost to train fully a military working dog of each breed used in the latest period for which figures are available.

Kevan Jones: The approximate average cost of training a successful dog by type in 2006-07 (the latest year for which data are available) is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Type of dog  Cost per successful dog (£) 
			 Patrol Dogs 8,200 
			 Army/RAF Police Dogs 15,000 
			 MOD Police Dogs (1)— 
			 Arms and Explosives Search Dogs 22,600 
			 Vehicle Search Dogs 7,300 
			 Multi Purpose Drug Detection Dogs 15,500 
			 Tracker Dogs 8,500 
			 (1) Training a Ministry of Defence police or Military Guard Service dog up to the point on its introduction into service will cost the same as training an Army or RAF police dog. Wethersfield dog section provides further continuous annual training for all MOD police dogs. The cost of this additional training is not recorded centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Dogs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many military working dogs were killed in service in each year since 1997; what type of dog was involved in each case; and what the  (a) location and  (b) circumstances of death were in each case.

Kevan Jones: Since November 2006, approximately 250 dogs have died in service. It is not possible to break down this figure by type of dog, location or circumstances. However, in the majority of cases (around 55 per cent.) death occurred at the Defence Animal Centre in Melton Mowbray, as this is where many dogs are returned at the end of their service.
	Figures are not available prior to November 2006, and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Dogs

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many fully trained military working dog handlers there were in the armed forces in each year since 1997.

Kevan Jones: At 1 August 2008, there were 1,087 military working dog handlers across Defence. Of these, there were none in the Royal Navy, 178 were with the Army and 199 were with the Royal Air Force. The remaining 710 dog handlers were with the various policing and guarding services across the Ministry of Defence.
	Data for previous years is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Armed Forces: Training

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many members of foreign armed forces received  (a) training and  (b) hospitality at UK military establishments in each year since 2003, broken down by (i) nationality and (ii) reason for providing training; and whether conditions applied to the provision of the training.

Bob Ainsworth: Since April 2003, 20,601 members of foreign armed forces from 147 countries have received training at military establishments in the United Kingdom. All of these individuals will have received some form of hospitality from the training establishment, ranging from a basic welcoming reception to the provision of MOD service accommodation. This applies to all course places whether they are part or fully paid for by MOD, or whether the country in question pays for the training itself.
	The principal objective of this training activity is to use British Defence assets in peacetime to discourage hostility abroad, build and maintain trust between states, facilitate inter-operability with British armed forces, and assist in the development of democratically accountable armed forces; thereby helping to make a significant contribution to conflict prevention and resolution. The provision of training is also undertaken for income generation purposes, but all offers of training are made only where they comply with wider Government policy on engagement and the relevant security restrictions applying to each country.
	The list of countries receiving training and the total numbers of students trained by financial year is shown as follows.
	
		
			  Country  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06( 1)  2006-07  2007-08  2008-09 
			 Afghanistan — * * * * * 
			 Albania * * * — * * 
			 Algeria * * * * * * 
			 Angola — * * — — — 
			 Antigua and Barbuda * * * * * * 
			 Argentina * * * * * * 
			 Armenia — * * * * — 
			 Australia * * * * * * 
			 Austria * * * * * * 
			 Azerbaijan * * * * — — 
			 Bahamas * * — — * * 
			 Bahrain * * * * * * 
			 Bangladesh * * * * * * 
			 Barbados * * * * * * 
			 Belarus — — — — * * 
			 Belgium * * * * * * 
			 Belize * * * * * * 
			 Bhutan — * — — — — 
			 Bolivia * * — — — — 
			 Bosnia-Herzegovina * — * — * * 
			 Botswana * * * * * * 
			 Brazil * * * * * * 
			 Brunei * * * * * * 
			 Bulgaria * * * * * * 
			 Burundi — — * * — — 
			 Cambodia — — * — — — 
			 Canada * * * * * * 
			 Chile * * * * * * 
			 China (inc. Hong Kong) * * * * * * 
			 Colombia * * * * * — 
			 Congo Rep — — — — * — 
			 Cote D'Ivoire — * — — — — 
			 Croatia * * * * * — 
			 Czech Republic * * * * * * 
			 Democratic Rep. Congo — — * * * * 
			 Denmark * * * * * * 
			 Djibouti — — * * — — 
			 ECOWAS (West Africa unspec.)(2) — — — * — — 
			 Ecuador — — * — — — 
			 Egypt * * * * * * 
			 El Salvador — — * — — — 
			 Eritrea — * — — — — 
			 Estonia * * * * * * 
			 Ethiopia * * * * — * 
			 Fiji * * * * — — 
			 Finland * * * * * * 
			 France * * * * * * 
			 Gabon — — * * * — 
			 Gambia * * * * * * 
			 Georgia * * * * * * 
			 Germany * * * * * * 
			 Ghana — * * * * * 
			 Greece * * * * * * 
			 Guatemala * * * * — — 
			 Guyana * * * * * — 
			 Honduras * — * — — — 
			 Hungary * * * * * * 
			 Iceland — * * * — — 
			 India * * * * * * 
			 Indonesia * * * * * * 
			 Iraq * * * * * * 
			 Israel * * * * * * 
			 Italy * * * * * * 
			 Jamaica * * * * * * 
			 Japan * * * * * * 
			 Jordan * * * * * * 
			 Kazakhstan * * * * * * 
			 Kenya * * * * * * 
			 Korea * * * * * * 
			 Kuwait * * * * * * 
			 Kyrgyzstan * — * — — — 
			 Latvia * * * * * * 
			 Lebanon * * * * * * 
			 Lesotho — — * * — — 
			 Liberia — — — — * — 
			 Libya — * * — * — 
			 Lithuania * * * * * * 
			 Luxembourg * * — * * — 
			 Macedonia * * — * * * 
			 Malawi * * * * * * 
			 Malaysia * * * * * * 
			 Maldives — — * — * — 
			 Malta * * * * * * 
			 Mauritania — — — — * — 
			 Mauritius * * — * — — 
			 Mexico * — — — — — 
			 Moldova * * * * — * 
			 Mongolia — — * * * — 
			 Morocco * * * * * * 
			 Mozambique * * * * — — 
			 Namibia * — * * * * 
			 NATO and EUROCORPS unspec.(2) — * * — * * 
			 Nepal * * * * * * 
			 Netherlands * * * * * * 
			 New Zealand * * * * * * 
			 Nicaragua — — * — — — 
			 Nigeria * * * * * * 
			 Norway * * * * * * 
			 Oman * * * * * * 
			 Pakistan * * * * * * 
			 Palestine — — — * * — 
			 Panama — — * — — — 
			 Papua New Guinea — — — — — * 
			 Peru — * * * * * 
			 Philippines * * * * * — 
			 Poland * * * * * * 
			 Portugal * * * * * * 
			 Qatar * * * * * * 
			 Republic of Ireland * * * * * * 
			 Romania * * * * * * 
			 Russia * * * * * — 
			 Rwanda — — * * * * 
			 Saudi Arabia * * * * * * 
			 Senegal * * * * * * 
			 Serbia and Montenegro * * * * * * 
			 Seychelles — — * * — — 
			 Sierra Leone * * * * * * 
			 Singapore * * * * * * 
			 Slovakia * * * * * * 
			 Slovenia * * * * * * 
			 South Africa * * * * * * 
			 Spain * * * * * * 
			 Sri Lanka * * * * * * 
			 St. Kitts and Nevis * — * — — — 
			 St. Lucia — — * — — — 
			 St. Vincent and The Grenadines * — * * — — 
			 Sudan — * — * * * 
			 Swaziland * — — — — — 
			 Sweden * * * * * * 
			 Switzerland * * * * * * 
			 Syria * * * * — * 
			 Tajikistan — * — — — — 
			 Tanzania * * * * * * 
			 Thailand * * * * * * 
			 Tonga — * * * — — 
			 Trinidad and Tobago * * * * * * 
			 Tunisia * * * — — — 
			 Turkey * * * * * * 
			 Turkmenistan — * — — — — 
			 Uganda * * * * * * 
			 Ukraine * * * * * * 
			 United Arab Emirates * * * * * * 
			 USA * * * * * * 
			 Uruguay * * * * * * 
			 Uzbekistan * * — — — — 
			 Venezuela — * * — — — 
			 Vietnam — * * * *  
			 Yemen * * * * * * 
			 Zambia * * * * * — 
			 Total 4,685 3,103 2,985 3,628 3,696 2,504 
			 Total all years 20,671 
			 * = Indicates personnel from that country commenced training at UK military establishments in that year 2008-09 figures are based on attendance in year to date. Where a course spans two plus financial years, the * indicates year that training commenced. There may be a few instances where a student was present in a "blank" year indicated with a "—" for this reason. (1) Records for FY 2005-06 for students attending Land Warfare Centre may be incomplete, owing to possible corruption of data when there was a change of databases. (2) Some attendance records only denote that the student was part of a contingent from ECOWAS or was from a NATO member. They would have been West African or Western European respectively, but otherwise nationality is unknown.  Caveats: 1. Foreign military personnel attending exercises in UK and Exchange Officers are excluded. 2. Where one student attended two different courses he/she may be counted twice.

Army Boards of Inquiry

Anne Main: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many Army Boards of Inquiry have been convened since 1997; and how many of these have been reconvened.

Bob Ainsworth: This information is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Army: Labour Turnover

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the  (a) inflow,  (b) outflow and  (c) voluntary outflow figures for the Army rates were in each year since 2003, broken down by corps.

Bob Ainsworth: The following tables show the available information on inflow, outflow and voluntary outflow for the Arms and Service of the Regular Army Soldiers by financial year since 1 April 2003.
	Due to ongoing validation of data following the implementation of the new joint personnel administration (JPA) system, flow information for 2007-08 is only available at the whole Army level and is not yet available analysed by Arm/Service. To provide this information at the present time would incur disproportionate cost.
	Work on the analysis of intake and outflows is currently ongoing and once available, this information will be sent to the hon. Member and a copy placed in the Library of the House.
	
		
			  Table 1: Soldier intake( 1)  from civilian life to UK Regular Army( 2)  by Arm Service and financial year from 2003 
			   Financial year 
			  Arm Service  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 3) °  2007-08 
			 Household Cavalry Regiment 140 110 80 150 n/a 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 600 290 610 630 n/a 
			 Royal Regiment of Artillery 1,020 650 780 890 n/a 
			 Corps of Royal Engineers 1,110 940 1,480 1,260 n/a 
			 Royal Corps of Signals 1,060 800 780 720 n/a 
			 Infantry 4,850 3,570 3,610 3,980 n/a 
			 Army Air Corps 350 250 230 180 n/a 
			 The Royal Logistics Corps 2,420 2,270 2,180 1,890 n/a 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 340 300 340 340 n/a 
			 Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 1,460 1,100 1,280 1,240 n/a 
			 Adjutant-General's Corps 660 400 250 300 n/a 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 20 20 10 40 n/a 
			 Small Arms School Corps 0 0 0 0 n/a 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 20 20 20 30 n/a 
			 Intelligence Corps 110 110 160 170 n/a 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 0 0 0 0 n/a 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 90 70 60 40 n/a 
			 Corps of Army Music 60 50 30 30 n/a 
			 Total(4) 14,310 10,940 11,910 11,890 (5)13,460 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Figures show Soldier intake to UK Regular Army including re-enlistments, rejoined reservists but excluding transfers between Arms and Services. (2) UK Regular Army excludes full-time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service Personnel of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel. (3) 2006-07 Arm Service split contains only 11 months' data due to the implementation of the JPA system in March 2007. (4) Due to the implementation of the JPA system, the Arm Service split is not yet available for financial year 2007-08. (5) Provisional.  Notes: 1. Due to the ongoing validation of data from the JPA System, Army statistics from 1 April 2007 onwards are provisional and subject to review. 2. The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Soldier outflow( 1)  to civilian life from the Regular Army( 2)  by Arm Service and financial year from 2003 
			   Financial year 
			  Arm Service  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 3) °  2007-08 
			 Household Cavalry Regiment 160 140 110 120 n/a 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 730 660 700 660 n/a 
			 Royal Regiment of Artillery 1,140 1,100 960 1,120 n/a 
			 Corps of Royal Engineers 1,230 1,350 1,330 1,180 n/a 
			 Royal Corps of Signals 960 1,010 970 900 n/a 
			 Infantry 4,710 4,600 4,290 4,240 n/a 
			 Army Air Corps 170 240 210 200 n/a 
			 The Royal Logistics Corps 2,260 2,280 2,070 2,230 n/a 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 230 290 270 250 n/a 
			 Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 1,110 1,260 1,220 1,090 n/a 
			 Adjutant-General's Corps 710 690 670 630 n/a 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 20 20 30 20 n/a 
			 Small Arms School Corps 10 0 10 0 n/a 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 20 40 30 30 n/a 
			 Intelligence Corps 50 80 90 120 n/a 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 20 30 20 30 n/a 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 60 70 70 60 n/a 
			 Corps of Army Music 60 100 80 70 n/a 
			 Total(4) 13,640 13,970 13,120 12,960 (5)13,830 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Figures show Soldier outflow to UK Regular Army including recalled reservists on release and outflow to the Home Service Personnel of the Royal Irish Regiment. (2) UK Regular Army excludes full-time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service Personnel of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel. (3) 2006-07 Arm Service split contains only 11 months' data due to the implementation of the JPA system in March 2007. (4) Due to the implementation of the JPA system, the Arm Service split is not yet available for financial year 2007-08. (5) Provisional.  Notes: 1. Due to the ongoing validation of data from the JPA System, Army statistics from 1 April 2007 onwards are provisional and subject to review. 2. The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table  3 : Soldier  voluntary  outflow( 1)  from the Regular Army( 2)  by Arm Service and financial year from 2003 
			   Financial year 
			  Arm Service  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07( 3) °  2007-08 
			 Household Cavalry Regiment 50 40 40 30 n/a 
			 Royal Armoured Corps 250 240 280 220 n/a 
			 Royal Regiment of Artillery 400 420 380 330 n/a 
			 Corps of Royal Engineers 490 630 600 540 n/a 
			 Royal Corps of Signals 380 440 380 450 n/a 
			 Infantry 1,340 1,350 1,410 1,330 n/a 
			 Army Air Corps 60 90 70 60 n/a 
			 The Royal Logistics Corps 670 650 540 580 n/a 
			 Royal Army Medical Corps 80 110 100 90 n/a 
			 Corps of Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers 400 450 400 370 n/a 
			 Adjutant-General's Corps 280 320 280 250 n/a 
			 Royal Army Veterinary Corps 10 0 10 0 n/a 
			 Small Arms School Corps 0 0 0 0 n/a 
			 Royal Army Dental Corps 10 20 20 20 n/a 
			 Intelligence Corps 20 40 40 50 n/a 
			 Army Physical Training Corps 10 10 0 10 n/a 
			 Queen Alexandra's Royal Army Nursing Corps 40 40 30 40 n/a 
			 Corps of Army Music 30 50 40 40 n/a 
			 Total 4,510 4,900 4,630 4,410 n/a 
			 n/a = Not available. (1) Voluntary outflow (VO) is defined as exits from trained personnel which are generated by the individual before their time expiry. (2) UK Regular Army excludes full-time Reserve Service personnel, Gurkhas, the Home Service Personnel of the Royal Irish Regiment and mobilised reservists. It includes trained and untrained personnel. (3) 2006-07 Arm Service split contains only 11 months' data due to the implementation of the JPA system in March 2007.  Notes: 1. Exit reasons, including VO, for FY 2007-08 are currently unavailable. 2. The data have been rounded to the nearest 10, numbers ending in '5' have been rounded to the nearest multiple of 20 to avoid systematic bias.

Future Surface Combatant

Julian Lewis: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what recent assessments have been made of the vulnerability of future frigates to missile strikes; what studies have been undertaken of the relative resilience against such strikes of  (a) trimaran and  (b) conventional frigate hull designs for the Future Surface Combatant (FSC); and if he will make a statement on progress in the design of the proposed variants of the FSC.

Quentin Davies: The Future Surface Combatant (FSC) programme is still in the early stages of concept and the design is not expected to be confirmed until early in the next decade. Some work has been undertaken to assess the merits of using different types of hull form, including trimaran and conventional designs. Studies to assess the vulnerability and resilience to missile strikes of FSC are, however, planned.

Iraq: Peacekeeping Operations

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence what the cost has been of compensation paid by his Department to Iraqi citizens since 2005.

Bob Ainsworth: Since financial year 2005 the Ministry of Defence has paid £6,504,472 in compensation to Iraqi citizens as follows:
	
		
			  Financial year  Total payments (£) 
			 2005-06 653,699 
			 2006-07 573,651 
			 2007-08 2,303,803 
			 1 March 2008 to 10 October 2008 2,973,319 
		
	
	The payment made in 2007-08 includes a £2 million payment made to a 13-year-old boy who was shot in the stomach when a member of HM forces negligently discharged his rifle. He sustained severe neurological and spinal injuries resulting in a multi-faceted disability including paralysis in the legs, loss of sensation, loss of bladder control and impairment of bowel control. He will require care for the rest of his life.
	The payment made in the current financial year includes £2.83 million paid to the family of Baha Musa and eight other Iraqi civilians following their detention by British Forces during September 2003.

Vehicles

Liam Fox: To ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many vehicles of each type were reported  (a) lost or missing and later recovered and  (b) lost or missing and not recovered by armed forces in the United Kingdom in each year since 1997.

Bob Ainsworth: Information on vehicles lost and recovered is not held centrally and could be provided only at disproportionate cost.

COMMUNITIES AND LOCAL GOVERNMENT

Council Housing: Leicestershire

David Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many local authority-owned non-decent dwellings there were in  (a) the East Midlands and  (b) North West Leicestershire in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Iain Wright: The Department collects figures on local authority non-decent homes through the published annual business plan statistical appendix. According to the latest returns available, the number of non-decent local authority homes as at 1 April 2007 in North West Leicestershire was 1,239 (27 per cent. of stock). The figure for the East Midlands as a whole was 46,118 (22 per cent. of stock). The regional figure includes non-decent homes in local authorities which had established an arm's length management organisation to manage their homes.

Departmental Information Officers

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many press officers her Department has employed in each year since its establishment.

Sadiq Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer I gave on 18 February 2008,  Official Report, column 14W to the hon. Member for Taunton (Mr. Browne).
	The Department's press officers are listed in The White Book, published by COI, which is available in the Library of the House. The book is updated twice yearly.

Departmental Press

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the Answer of 17 July 2008,  Official Report, column 580W, on departmental press, if she will break down the budget for each year by  (a) press and  (b) communications.

Sadiq Khan: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 17 July 2008,  Official Report, column 580W by my hon. Friend the Member for Gloucester (Mr. Dhanda). And the answer he gave on 31 March 2008,  Official Report, column 717W to the hon. Member for Yeovil (Mr. Laws).

Departmental Procurement

Mark Prisk: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what proportion of invoices for goods and services procured from small- and medium-sized businesses was paid within 30 days of receipt by  (a) her Department and  (b) the agencies for which her Department is responsible in 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: Unfortunately this information is not available. The Department for Communities and Local Government measures the proportion of invoices for goods and services which were paid within 30 days but does not separately identify invoices from small and medium-sized businesses.

Deprivation Indicators

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the lower layer super output areas in each parliamentary constituency are.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question concerning what Lower Layer Super Output Areas there are in each parliamentary constituency. (226209)
	The table provides for each of the 569 parliamentary constituencies in England and Wales a listing of the Lower Layer Super Output Areas within them. There are a total of 34,378 Lower Layer Super Output Areas in England and Wales, of these 693 are covered by two parliamentary constituencies, and eight within three parliamentary constituencies. These 'split' Lower Layer Super Output Areas are indicated in the table.
	A copy of the table has been placed in the Library.

Energy Performance Certificates

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government whether energy performance certificates may make reference to the performance of  (a) light bulbs,  (b) fridge-freezers and  (c) dishwashers in a property.

Iain Wright: The ratings on the EPC provide a measure of the overall energy efficiency of a domestic property and its environmental impact, calculated in accordance with a national methodology that takes into account factors, such as insulation, heating and hot water systems, ventilation and fuels used.
	Light bulbs are mentioned in the EPC, where there is a recommendation to install low energy lighting, because lighting is an integral part of the property's structure. Fridge-freezers and dishwashers, which are subject to their own rating system, are not part of the overall calculation of CO2 emissions and energy use calculations and are, therefore, not referred to in the EPC.

Ethnic Groups: Finance

Paul Goodman: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what her policy is on the funding by  (a) her Department and  (b) local authorities of groups or organisations that form, operate or advertise themselves on the basis of ethnicity.

Sadiq Khan: The Commission on Integration and Cohesion was concerned that groups based on single identities were potentially divisive. However, as both CLG and local Government fund bodies which aim to promote equality of opportunity, we consulted earlier this year on cohesion guidance for funders, looking at how funders could both promote equality of opportunity and cohesion through the conditions they placed on funding. We will be publishing the results of that consultation shortly, along with next steps.

Fire Services: Expenditure

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the revenue costs of the regional project team were in each regional management board area in respect of the FiReControl project in financial year 2007-08; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: CLG provided funding in 2007-08 in each region to cover the costs of regional project teams, as follows:
	
		
			   Amount (£) 
			 East Midlands 147,051 
			 East of England 147,051 
			 London 160,413 
			 North East 157,051 
			 North West 157,051 
			 South East 147,051 
			 South West 157,051 
			 West Midlands 147,051 
			 Yorkshire and Humber 157,051 
		
	
	CLG also gave £56,041 to every FRA, excluding LFEPA to fund a project co-ordinator post.

Fire Services: Expenditure

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what the cost to date has been of the development and implementation of  (a) the data capture and management toolkit version 1 product and  (b) the early station end equipment product in respect of the FiReControl project; and if she will make a statement.

Sadiq Khan: £696,856.62 has been paid to EADS Defence and Security Systems Ltd for the development of the data capture and management toolkit version 1. No payment will be made for early station end development, although a capital charge will be payable when a station end is installed.

Housing: Children

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many children were registered as living in  (a) temporary accommodation,  (b) non-decent accommodation and  (c) overcrowded accommodation in each local authority area in each year since 2004.

Iain Wright: Figures are available at local authority level for the number of children in temporary accommodation, but not for the numbers living in non-decent homes or in overcrowded accommodation.
	Information about English local authorities' actions under the homelessness legislation (Part 7 of the Housing Act 1996) is collected quarterly at local authority level. Data collected includes the number of households accepted by local housing authorities as eligible for assistance, unintentionally homeless and in priority need, and therefore owed a main homelessness duty (to secure that suitable accommodation is available). If a settled home is not immediately available, the authority must secure temporary accommodation until a settled home becomes available.
	Information on the numbers of households housed in temporary accommodation is reported quarterly by local authorities as at the last day of each quarter. The number of dependent children or expected children in these households has been collected since mid 2004. Figures reported by local authorities from 2004-05 onwards (as at the end of March each year) are provided in a table, which has been placed in the Library.

Housing: Low Incomes

Christopher Huhne: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what guidance her Department has issued to local authorities on the criteria to be used in the allocation of social housing to people released from prison.

Iain Wright: The statutory Allocations Code of Guidance, issued in 2002, does not provide advice on general categories of people released from prison. The guidance does however advise housing authorities that, where sex offenders are allocated accommodation, this should be in the light of considered decisions about managing risk associated with their release from prison into the community involving multi-agency arrangements with the police, probation services, social services, health professionals and other relevant bodies. The code also refers local authorities to earlier guidance issued by the Department in November 1999. This document is available from the following link.
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/pdf/157737.pdf
	The statutory Code of Guidance on Choice Based Lettings, issued this year and placed in the Library on 26 August, offers advice to enable prisoners to access the information necessary to make informed decisions about homes they may wish to bid for on release from prison. This document is available from the following link.
	http://www.communities.gov.uk/documents/housing/doc/cblguidance.docl.

Housing: Repairs and Maintenance

Sarah Teather: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what procedures are in place to monitor the average time taken on housing repairs by  (a) local authorities and  (b) housing associations.

Iain Wright: For local authorities, the average time taken on urgent housing repairs is monitored through the Comprehensive Performance Assessment framework.
	Where appropriate and as part of a risk assessment of overall performance, the data may be used to trigger further investigations of performance by the Audit Commission.
	The Housing Corporation's expectations of registered social landlords (RSLs) on responsive repairs are set out in the Regulatory Code. RSLs must develop and manage good quality homes that seek to meet people's needs and preferences now and in the future. The Housing Corporation's guidance on repairs is that RSLs should have a responsive repair service that meets legal and contractual obligations, is efficient and effective and that service standards are published. RSLs will monitor their own performance on repairs which may include the average time taken.
	The Housing Corporation collects information on levels of tenant satisfaction with repairs and maintenance, which is then published in the form of performance indicators. Performance on tenant satisfaction is published in Housing Corporation Assessments. The Corporation's field staff will engage with a RSL where it becomes aware that the RSL's tenants are not satisfied and it does not consider that the RSL is taking sufficient steps to address their concerns.
	The Housing and Regeneration Act 2008 set up the Tenant Services Authority, a new regulator of social housing which will have powers to set standards and monitor performance for the management of social housing, including on maintenance and repairs. The TSA was set up to put tenants at the heart of regulation, and address their concerns with the housing management service. The TSA is likely to consult on standards to cover both registered social landlords and local authority landlords in 2009.

Housing: Stafford

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what public funding is available to assist local authorities in Stafford constituency to enable the provision of new affordable housing in the next three years.

Iain Wright: We are investing £8 billion over the three years 2008-11 in the provision of affordable housing through the Housing Corporation's Affordable Housing Programme. Of these funds the West Midlands region is set to receive around £460 million. This compares to expenditure on affordable housing through the Housing Corporation in that region of £280 million over the previous three years.
	It is open to registered social landlords, other developers and local authority special purpose vehicles such as arm's length management organisations (ALMOs) to bid to the Housing Corporation for funding. We recently announced our intention to invite local authorities who continue to directly manage their stock to bid on the same terms.
	We do not hold information at constituency level.

Local Authorities

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for what reasons her Department's local priorities website does not list all local priorities chosen by local authorities, including those not negotiated with central Government.

Sadiq Khan: The local priorities website was launched with the signing of local area agreements (LAAs) on 30 June. The Department is working to make information on the details of local priorities which have been set, though not negotiated with central Government as part of LAAs, also available on the website.

Local Authorities: Cost Effectiveness

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will make it her policy to require information on efficiency savings by local authorities to be included with council tax bills issued by local billing authorities.

John Healey: I previously announced in February 2008 that, subject to consultation, from 2009 information on waste and better working will be set out with council tax bills, so that local people can see what is happening in their council's search for greater efficiency.
	Our proposals are currently out to consultation. The consultation paper 'Inclusion of Efficiency Information with Council Tax Demand Notices' is available at
	www.communities.gov.uk/documents/localgovernment/pdf/952293.pdf

Local Authorities: Equal Pay

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps are being taken to assist local authorities to meet requirements for equal pay for men and women; and if she will make a statement.

John Healey: Central Government have increased the financial flexibility available to local authorities to meet their equal pay obligations and to speed up progress on delivering equal pay. On 26 September, the Government issued £455 million of equal pay capitalisation directions for 34 local authorities. This builds on the £500 million issued to 46 authorities last year, and takes the total approved by Government to more than £1.1 billion. This support will ensure authorities maintain the positive momentum they have established in implementing equal pay settlements.

Non-Domestic Rates: Ports

Julian Brazier: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consultations were undertaken with those businesses operating within ports prior to the introduction of business rates for port tenants; what form those consultations took; and how long the consultation period was.

John Healey: Consultation about removal of the power of the Secretary of State to prescribe rateable values, for ports and other utilities, was undertaken in "Modernising Local Government Finance : A Green Paper" published by DETR in September 2000 and in "Strong Local Leadership - Quality Public Service" a White Paper published by ODPM in December 2001. The Local Government Act 2003 then removed the power to prescribe a formula for rating statutory ports.
	The port operators were advised by letter of the review of ports and its background in May 2006. Since then there have been detailed discussions to establish the facts, on a case by case basis, with interested parties both among port operators and port tenants and the time taken has varied, dependent on the complexity of each.

Non-Domestic Rates: Ports

Frank Field: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what steps she is considering to mitigate the financial effects upon traders of the recent change in rating methodology for docks and harbours.

John Healey: The Department has received representations over the rating of businesses within the ports, and the Government are looking closely at the matter.

Pensioners: Low Incomes

Chris Grayling: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many and what proportion of  (a) pensioners and  (b) children were living in income-deprived households in each parliamentary constituency calculated using the Indices of Deprivation 2007.

John Healey: Tables have been deposited in the Library setting out the numbers and percentages of  (a) pensioners and  (b) children living in income-deprived households. in each parliamentary constituency in England. The data is based on the Income Deprivation Affecting Older People Index and Income Deprivation Affecting Children Index, both of which form part of the Indices of Deprivation 2007.

Regeneration: Canvey Island

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government pursuant to the answer of 30 June 2008,  Official Report, column 630W, on regeneration: Canvey Island, whether the absence of an additional access road for Canvey Island constituted one of the impediments.

Iain Wright: The Government are aware that an additional access road for Canvey Island is an important local issue. We understand that discussions are underway among the relevant planning and transport authorities and other partners in the south Essex Thames Gateway to identify possible solutions. Any solutions which will require funding from Government will need to be considered by the region when it is preparing its advice to Government on the Regional Funding Allocations.

Regional Planning and Development

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government if she will  (a) set a deadline for the formal submission of Castle Point Borough Council's Local Development Scheme and (ii) set out what process of public consultation will be undertaken for the scheme; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: The Secretary of State's policy is to consider reviews of local development schemes in response to annual monitoring reports, against their reported timetable for the year and exceptionally to consider any review prepared by the local authority during the year. I understand Castle Point borough council intend to bring forward a review in 2009.
	There is no requirement for public consultation on a local development scheme. This is for the local planning authority to consider.

Regional Planning and Development: Kent

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what consideration was given to including  (a) the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway and  (b) the Dolphin Barge Museum in the vision framework set out in her Department's Green Cluster Study for Milton Creek; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: The Green Cluster Study for Milton Creek was commissioned via Greening the Gateway Kent and Medway to provide a brief strategic statement of the opportunities for creating green space north of Sittingbourne town centre, along Milton Creek to the Swale. It has no planning status, and is purely intended to set out an overall vision.
	The study does include Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway. Both the Light Railway and the Dolphin Barge Museum are acknowledged in contributing to the development of the vision. However, the purpose of the publication is not to describe in detail individual schemes or stakeholders, but to present a broad assessment of opportunities in the area.

Regional Planning and Development: Kent

Derek Wyatt: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent reports she has received on local development and regeneration plans of Swale Borough Council; and what her policy is on the future development of  (a) the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway and  (b) the Sittingbourne Dolphin Barge Museum.

Iain Wright: The overall strategy for the physical regeneration of Swale is set out in the Swale borough local plan, adopted in 2008. Following adoption of the local plan, the borough council has commissioned a master plan for Sittingbourne town centre, and this is currently under way.
	Communities and Local Government is supporting the regeneration of Sittingbourne through an indicative allocation of Thames Gateway funding of £10.9 million, of which £7.5 million will contribute to the construction of Sittingbourne Northern Relief Road; £2 million will contribute to the development of Sittingbourne Learning Campus, and the balance will fund the completion of the master plan and the development of proposals for increasing capacity at junction 5 of the M2.
	The Government do not have any policy on the future development of the Sittingbourne and Kemsley Light Railway or the Sittingbourne Dolphin Barge Museum because these are matters for the local authority.

Regional Planning and Development: Thames Gateway

John Pugh: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what financial commitments have been made by her Department towards the development of the Thames Gateway.

Iain Wright: The Government's plans were set out in "The Thames Gateway Delivery Plan" published in November 2007.

Repossession Orders

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what recent discussions she has had with the Council of Mortgage Lenders on housing repossessions; and if she will make a statement.

Iain Wright: Government are working closely with a range of stakeholders—including the Council of Mortgage Lenders—to help vulnerable households facing repossession remain in their homes wherever possible.

Right to Buy Scheme

Roger Williams: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how many homes have been purchased under the right to buy scheme in  (a) rural and  (b) non-rural areas in each year since 1997 expressed in (i) absolute terms, (ii) per 1000 population and (iii) per 1,000 households.

Iain Wright: Information on the number of local authority right to buy sales in England is shown in the following table. The table shows the number of sales, the number of sales per 1,000 population, and the number of sales per 1,000 households, in urban and rural areas.
	
		
			   1997-98  1998-99  1999-2000  2000-01  2001-02  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			  Number of local authority right to buy sales
			 Predominantly urban 28,510 28,850 39,000 39,550 39,520 48,800 55,630 40,990 21,460 13,620 9,950 
			 Significant rural 4,480 4,170 5,680 5,130 5,160 5,980 5,430 3,720 2,000 1,240 840 
			 Predominantly rural 8,350 7,250 9,580 7,710 7,290 8,620 8,510 5,270 3,200 2,040 1,170 
			 Total 41,330 40,270 54,250 52,380 51,970 63,390 69,580 49,980 26,650 16,900 11,960 
			 
			  Number of local authority right to buy sales per 1,000 population
			 Predominantly urban 0.92 0.93 1.26 1.27 1.25 1.55 1.76 1.29 0.67 0.42 0.31 
			 Significant rural 0.70 0.65 0.89 0.80 0.80 0.92 0.83 0.57 0.30 0.19 0.12 
			 Predominantly rural 0.74 0.64 0.84 0.67 0.63 0.74 0.73 0.45 0.27 0.17 0.10 
			 Total 0.85 0.83 1.11 1.07 1.05 1.28 1.40 1.00 0.53 0.33 0.23 
			 
			  Number of local authority right to buy sales per 1,000 households
			 Predominantly urban 2.26 2.28 3.06 3.08 3.03 3.70 4.19 3.07 1.59 1.00 0.72 
			 Significant rural 1.73 1.60 2.17 1.94 1.94 2.22 2.00 1.36 0.72 0.44 0.29 
			 Predominantly rural 1.81 1.56 2.04 1.62 1.52 1.78 1.73 1.06 0.63 0.40 0.23 
			 Total 2.09 2.02 2.71 2.59 2.53 3.06 3.33 2.37 1.25 0.79 0.55

Smoke Alarms

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government which fire and rescue services provide smoke alarms free of charge to domestic dwellings.

Sadiq Khan: In 2004, Communities and Local Government invested £25 million pump priming capital over four years in the Home Fire Risk Check initiative. This money enabled all fire and rescue services to embed a programme of home visits where they would provide tailored fire safety advice to households. As part of a home visit, all fire and rescue services would, if necessary, install smoke alarms to vulnerable households free of charge.
	This funding resulted in fire and rescue services in England installing over 2.4 million smoke alarms. Many fire and rescue authorities may also have invested in and installed further smoke alarms outside of and even before this grant.

Social Services: Children

Simon Hughes: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what account she has taken of concerns raised by local authorities about the ability of the new Children's Social Services formula, used in the 2008-11 local government funding settlement, to assess accurately the complex needs of children in urban areas.

John Healey: The children's formula is based on extensive research by experienced independent researchers and used the 2003 Children in Need survey, which contains data on children's social service clients in almost every social service authority in England. It is calculated using up to date indicators of need and is based on research from within 141 local authorities. The new formula therefore better reflects the current patterns of relative need and the cost drivers for children's social services than the old formula it replaces.
	London councils have argued that the formula is systematically biased against councils with the highest needs. However, the consideration of so-called 'unmet need' was part of the terms of reference of the research project, and was examined as thoroughly as possible by the researchers. They did not consider this issue impacted sufficiently seriously on the robustness of the formula to cast doubt on its overall reliability.

Society of Local Authority Chief Executives

James Duddridge: To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government how much funding the Audit Commission provided for the  (a) Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and  (b) Senior Managers Foundation Imprint magazine in 2007-08.

John Healey: The Audit Commission provides no funding to the Society of Local Authority Chief Executives and Senior Managers. During 2007-08, the Audit Commission provided £4,000.00 in sponsorship to the Solace Foundation Imprint magazine.

FOREIGN AND COMMONWEALTH AFFAIRS

British Council: Theatre

Nigel Evans: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs how many British  (a) plays and  (b) concerts were performed overseas by British performers under the auspices of the British Council in each year since 1998.

Caroline Flint: The British Council does not hold detailed records on individual plays and concerts performed overseas and to obtain this information would incur disproportionate cost. The British Council currently has three key programme areas: intercultural dialogue, climate change, and supporting the UK's creative and knowledge economy, which such performances support.

Cuba: Sanctions

Mark Pritchard: To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs if he will have discussions with the US Administration on the application of trade sanctions to Cuba.

Bill Rammell: The UK regularly discusses its policy on issues of mutual concern, including Cuba, with the US. We also re-iterate our opposition to the US embargo on Cuba publicly through our yearly vote at the UN General Assembly. The last vote took place on 30 October 2007.

NORTHERN IRELAND

Borders: Vehicles

Robert Walter: To ask the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland how many private cars were searched by officers of Her Majesty's Revenue and Customs or the Police Service of Northern Ireland in each month since October 2007 when crossing  (a) from Northern Ireland to the Republic of Ireland and  (b) from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland.

Paul Goggins: That is an operational matter for the Chief Constable. I have asked him to reply directly to the hon. Member, and a copy of this letter will be placed in the Library of the House and the  Official Report.
	Matters relating to officers of HMRC should be directed to HM Treasury.

INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT

Afghanistan: Overseas Aid

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development which projects his Department  (a) funds and  (b) provides other assistance to (i) directly and (ii) indirectly in Afghanistan; how much funding his Department is providing for such projects; and with which organisations his Department works on these projects.

Douglas Alexander: I have placed a list in the Library of all the bilateral projects that the Department for International Development (DFID) funded in Afghanistan in 2007-08. The DFID imputed share of multilateral Official Development Assistance in Afghanistan in 2006-07 (the latest year for which we have data) was £41.7 million.
	DFID works with a range of organisations to deliver its programme of aid in Afghanistan, including multilateral organisations, civil society organisations, the government of Afghanistan, other bilateral donors and the private sector.

Afghanistan: Overseas Aid

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the Government is contributing financially to the Afghanistan National Development Strategy in 2008-09; and what involvement the Government has in the formation and implementation of the strategy.

Douglas Alexander: The production of the Afghanistan National Development Strategy (ANDS), which was published in July 2008, was led by the Government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan (GoIRA) in consultation with donors, including the Department for International Development (DFID). All of DFID's expenditure is in line with the ANDS. We expect to spend £123 million in 2008-09. DFID alongside other donors helped finance the production of the strategy. DFID is also helping support the GoIRA to put in place effective arrangements for overall management of the ANDS as well as the development of new national programmes in key sectors.

Chad: Security

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what assessment he has made of the effect of the security situation in eastern Chad on the delivery of humanitarian assistance to refugees in the region.

Ivan Lewis: The rise of banditry, against a background of total impunity, is cited by humanitarian actors as the current main direct threat to humanitarian action. The key impacts are a reduction in access to affected populations by humanitarian agencies, and the disruption of service provision where access is still possible. Since the beginning of the year, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reports that there have been 120 incidents against humanitarian agencies.
	The World Food Programme (WFP) ration to 240,000 refugees was cut by 20 per cent. earlier in the year, partly as a result of increasing insecurity. After a serious security incident in May, Save the Children (UK) was compelled to pull out from the central axes (Abeche-Adre). While this resulted in the disruption of health service provision to 30,000 refugees in Breidjing camp, other agencies have since stepped in to fill the gap.
	Service provision to internally displaced people (IDPs) has also been affected by insecurity. Most recently, attacks on relief workers in the Abeche area have resulted in three NGOs reducing staff presence or temporarily suspending programmes. This has compromised health, nutrition, and water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions targeting 40,000 IDPs.

Chad: Security

Keith Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what representations he has made to the government of Chad on action against perpetrators of criminal acts which impede the delivery of humanitarian aid in eastern Chad.

Ivan Lewis: According to the UN, the last year has seen an increase in the level of criminality in eastern Chad compared to 2007. There has also been a shift in the target of the criminality. Increasingly, it is the humanitarian workers that are the focus of violent crime and banditry, including attacks on compounds and carjackings.
	The UK Government have not made any direct representations to the Government of Chad over this issue. However, the UK Government supported UNSCR 1778 which established MINURCAT, the UN police training and advisory mission, and authorised the deployment of an EU force (EUFOR), the humanitarian protection force in Chad and Central African Republic (CAR). The objective of this interlinked UN and EU mission is to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. MINURCAT is specifically mandated to maintain law and order in refugee camps and internally displaced persons sites through the training of Chadian gendarmes, and to contribute to tackling the prevailing impunity by promotion of human rights and rule of law.

Humanitarian Aid

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what proportion of his Department's budget was spent on humanitarian aid in each of the last five years.

Michael Foster: The proportion of Department for International Development (DFID) programme expenditure spent on humanitarian aid in each of the last five years is shown in the following table and split by bilateral and imputed multilateral expenditure:
	
		
			  Table 1: Proportion of DFID programme expenditure spent on humanitarian aid since 2003-04 
			  Percentage 
			   Proportion of DFID bilateral programme expenditure spent on humanitarian aid  Proportion of DFID imputed multilateral expenditure spent on humanitarian aid 
			 2003-04 11.46 8.51 
			 2004-05 11.15 6.63 
			 2005-06 13.91 12.27 
			 2006-07 11.01 5.25 
			 2007-08 10.63 n/a 
		
	
	Imputed multilateral expenditure is assessed from the figures reported by the multilateral organisations to the Development Assistance Committee (DAC), 2007-08 will not therefore be available until 2009.

Kosovo: Politics and Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent steps the Government has taken to improve the stability of the Kosovo government.

Douglas Alexander: Different Departments within the UK Government are working together to improve stability in Kosovo. We are funding work to help establish effective Rule of Law, prevent renewed conflict and to establish an effective and transparent security sector. We have allocated £4.15 million from the joint Foreign and Commonwealth (FCO)/Department for International Development (DFID)/Ministry of Defence (MoD) Conflict Prevention Pool for this work in 2008-09. To strengthen Kosovo's key institutions, the UK is also helping the Kosovo government review their structures and improve their effectiveness. These programmes are in addition to the UK's contribution to stability in Kosovo through the NATO Kosovo Force (KFOR), the UN Mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), the EU's largest ever Rule of Law mission, EULEX, and the office of the EU Special Representative and International Civilian Representative in Kosovo.

Kosovo: Politics and Government

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development what recent support the Government has given to the government of Kosovo for economic growth.

Douglas Alexander: The UK is playing an active role in supporting international efforts to build economic growth in Kosovo, and thereby reduce poverty and unemployment. The Department for International Development (DFID) tabled a paper on key actions to support economic growth at the recent Kosovo Donors' conference (the paper is available online at: http://www.seerecon.org/kdc/gae.pdf). DFID has been instrumental in ensuring that future World Bank and European Commission (EC) assistance to Kosovo will be focused on improving the prospects of economic growth. One result of this is the World Bank's current work to design a US $90 million Multi-donor Trust Fund for Sustainable Employment. The EC has indicated it will contribute to this.
	In addition to this work, DFID is funding programmes in the Rule of Law sector which will contribute to giving investors greater confidence of a return on their investments. DFID is also supporting Kosovo's EU pre-accession process through a project to help the Government of Kosovo align its standards with those of the EU in a range of areas, including agriculture and food safety. This is important if Kosovo secures access for its products to the EU market.

Overseas Aid: Education

Malcolm Bruce: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much and what proportion of UK aid was allocated to education projects in the most recent resource allocation round; what proportion of these projects are located in states affected by significant conflict; and if he will make a statement.

Douglas Alexander: The latest comprehensive spending review committed DFID to increasing its expenditure through multilateral and bilateral channels on education to £1 billion a year by 2010-11. This represents 12 per cent. of the Department of International Development's (DFID) planned total departmental spending in 2010-11.
	Data are not held centrally on DFID's future spending allocation for education in states affected by conflict. Nevertheless, DFID is committed to increased support for fragile states (which include most of those significantly affected by conflict). Support to education in these countries is therefore expected to rise over the coming years.

Sudan: Overseas Aid

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for International Development how much the Government plans to spend on basic services for the population in the Nuba Mountains following the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement in Sudan; and how much of this has been spent to date.

Ivan Lewis: Since the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement on 9 January 2005, the Department for International Development (DFID) has allocated approximately £26.7 million to improve basic services in North Sudan (which includes the Nuba Mountains). Of the £26.1 million allocated through the Multi Donor Trust Fund (MDTF), all was disbursed. Based on figures available at 31 December 2007, approximately 18 per cent. of the total MDTF funding in the north was spent in South Kordofan.
	In addition, since the inception of the Common Humanitarian Fund in 2006, DFID has provided £7.4 million ($13 million) for humanitarian and early recovery activities in Southern Kordofan.
	Funding for South Kordofan includes the Nuba Mountains and other impoverished areas. Funding for the contested and politically sensitive area of Abyei is separate to this.

BUSINESS, ENTERPRISE AND REGULATORY REFORM

Business

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many business improvement districts have been established in each region.

John Healey: I am the Minister responsible for policy on business improvement districts and have been asked to reply.
	
		
			  Number of established bids in each region 
			  Region  Number of bids 
			 London 17 
			 South East 7 
			 South West 8 
			 Eastern 3 
			 East Midlands 6 
			 West Midlands 9 
			 North East 2 
			 North West 10 
			 Yorkshire and Humberside 1 
			 Total bids 63

Consumer Focus: Manpower

Mark Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff are expected to be employed as part of Consumer Focus Wales.

Patrick McFadden: The total number of staff who will be based at the Consumer Focus Wales office is 35.

Environment Agency: Finance

Graham Stuart: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what funding has been provided to the Environment Agency by Yorkshire Forward in each of the last five years; and what the purposes of the funding were.

Patrick McFadden: The following payments have been made by Yorkshire Forward to the Environment Agency for the last five years (April 2003 to March 2008). Payments greater than £10,000 have been itemised.
	
		
			   Payment  (£)  Purpose 
			 2003-04 14,691.04 Other (seven invoices) 
			 2004-05 6,722.20 Other (six invoices) 
			
			 2005-06 2,711,575.77 — 
			  Comprising:   
			  2,680,000.00 One-off grant to fund capital works comprising part of the Humber Estuary Shoreline Management Plan. 
			  15,000.00 Grant to fund an Opportunity Plan conducted by Scott Wilson and commissioned by the Strategic Partnership for the River Ouse and its tributaries, to identify potential locations for environmental enhancement projects, focusing on regeneration of urban waterfronts, better access to leisure activities, land management to increase wildlife, renewable energy through alternative fuel crops, and improve awareness and knowledge of river systems, (see £10,000 additional payment in 2006-07). 
			  12,728.77 Data evidence and modelling techniques—SCPnet 
			  3,847.00 Other (two invoices) 
			
			 2006-07 23,511.73 — 
			  Comprising:   
			  10,000.00 Grant re Ouse Enhancement Opportunity Plan (£15,000 first payment in 2005-06). 
			  13,511.73 Other (seven invoices) 
			
			 2007-08 19,146.85 — 
			  Comprising:   
			  18,003.35 Data evidence and modelling techniques—SCPnet 
			  1,143.50 Other (one invoice) 
		
	
	SCPnet was developed during the 2005-06 financial in order to provide a facility for the RDAs nationally to call on research data in order to inform debate and preparation of strategies for the regions. The process involved the 'appointment' of a champion to operate as co-ordinator for the project. Data collection, collation and presentation, continue with updates for this data source and to organise RDA lead meetings to steer the process for that year and future periods. The system also incorporates (through observatories), the collation of data and development of modelling tools to inform policy development. There are elements of support costs for meetings travel and subsistence and training on the REEIO and REAP models.
	The process has been approved for continuation to date with annual contributions by each of the RDAs.

Fisheries: Compensation

Austin Mitchell: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much has been paid out so far under the Icelandic Fishermen's Compensation Scheme; and to how many recipients.

Patrick McFadden: The Department paid out just under £43 million under the scheme launched in October 2000, to 4,400 successful claimants. In addition, around £14 million was paid out to almost 9,000 claimants under the previous ex-gratia scheme that operated between 1993 and 1995.

Freight: Liquidation

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many haulage businesses went into administration or liquidation in each region of England and Wales in each of the last 10 years.

Patrick McFadden: The information held by the Insolvency Service on corporate liquidations and administrations is not sufficiently detailed to identify those businesses which operated within the haulage industry, on a regional basis.
	While official statistics concerning compulsory liquidations are sourced from the Insolvency Service, those for voluntary liquidations and administrations are sourced from Companies House. There have been changes over recent years to the extent and type of sectoral and regional information collected and analysed. It is not possible to combine the various data sets available to provide a comprehensive answer to the question.

INTERREG Programme

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) of 30 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 627-28W, on the INTERREG programme, whether any bodies have sought approval to participate in a grouping.

Patrick McFadden: To date, no UK bodies have sought the approval of the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to participate in a European Grouping of Territorial Co-operation.

Minimum Wage: Yorkshire

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many workers in  (a) Leeds and  (b) Yorkshire received wages at the national minimum rate in each year since 2000, broken down by sex.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many workers in (a) Leeds and (b) Yorkshire received wages at the national minimum rate in each year since 2000, broken down by sex. (226378)
	Estimates for the number of jobs paid at the national minimum wage are not available from ONS. However, estimates for the number of all employee jobs paid below the national wage are available by Government Office Region. This is the lowest geographical breakdown.
	I attach a table showing the number of jobs earning less than the national minimum wage for Yorkshire and The Humber for all employees for each year since 2000.
	A guide to measuring low pay and associated articles can be found on the National Statistics website at:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/StatBase/Product.asp?vlnk=5837
	
		
			  Number of employee jobs paid below the national minimum wage in Yorkshire and the Humber 
			   Number of jobs  (thousand) 
			 2000 (1)— 
			 2001 (1)— 
			 2002 30 
			 2003 (1)— 
			 2004 24 
			 2005 28 
			 2006 23 
			 2007 24 
			 (1) Sample size too small for reliable estimate  Source: Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what estimate he has made of the effect that the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency prize draw promotion for customers renewing their vehicle excise licence online will have on the number of people choosing to renew their vehicle excise licence at a post office.

Patrick McFadden: Responsibility for the issue and renewal of motor vehicle excise licences, including the channels available to do so, rests with DVLA. The arrangements in place for renewal of licences at post offices are a contractual matter between DVLA and Post Office Ltd. These provide for this facility to be available at around 4,600 nationally and there has been no reduction in that number since online and telephone renewal was introduced.

Motor Vehicles: Excise Duties

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking to encourage the renewal of vehicle excise licences through post offices; and if he will make a statement.

Patrick McFadden: The DVLA offers a number of methods of renewing vehicle licences. Renewal at a post office remains an important option.
	I understand from Post Office Ltd. that 28,334,825 licence renewals took place at a post office branch during the period April 2007 to March 2008.

Motor Vehicles: Manufacturing Industries

Lindsay Hoyle: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what support his Department provides for UK car, van and truck manufacturing; what account his Department has taken of  (a) the current economic climate and  (b) EU proposals for restrictions on automotive emissions in providing such support; and if he will make a statement.

Ian Pearson: BERR continues to work closely with the automotive manufacturing industry on a range of key issues for the sector and has made clear it stands ready to assist the industry on new issues where appropriate, especially in the current economic climate. Work is also in train under the framework of the Manufacturing Strategy to ensure that British manufacturing has the right long-term framework of support. An example of support for the automotive sector announced in the recent Manufacturing Strategy is a major new pilot programme for low carbon cars, along with £20 million initially for the public procurement of innovative low carbon and zero emission vans. The recent allocation of £6.2 million Selective Finance for Industry in England (SFIE) to Nissan is another example of support available from Government.
	The Government facilitated industry-led New Automotive Innovation and Growth Team (NAIGT) announced by BERR in April 2008 is looking at how to address the two key strategic challenges of maintaining a competitive edge in the face of low-cost competition and ensuring that the UK benefits from the transition to advanced low-carbon technologies. The results of the NAIGT review, due to report to BERR by the end March 2009, will help industry and Government focus their efforts to help improve the competitiveness of the sector in the coming years.
	The European Commission's proposals to establish EU-wide mandatory targets for new car carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are just one of a range of regulations directly affecting the automotive sector. Government works closely with industry, through initiatives such as the BERR-led Vehicle Industry Policy and European Regulation (VIPER) group, to ensure industry is engaged in the regulatory process at the earliest opportunity and that regulations are proportionate, practicable and appropriate. The CO2 from cars dossier is widely considered to be the most significant ever for the EU automotive industry. Negotiations continue in Europe and the UK Government are working closely with the European Commission, other member states and industry to secure a Regulation which combines ambitious, but realistic, targets with sufficient flexibility to allow for the diversity of the UK and European automotive sector.

Non-Departmental Public Bodies: Manpower

Mark Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many staff were employed by  (a) the Welsh Consumer Council,  (b) Postwatch Wales and  (c) Energywatch Wales in each of the last five years.

Patrick McFadden: The information is as follows.
	
		
			   N umber  of staff 
			   Welsh Consumer Counci l  Postwatch Wales  Energywatch Wales 
			 2007-08 10 4 12-15 
			 2006-07 14 4 12-15 
			 2005-06 15 4 12-15 
			 2004-05 13 5 12-15 
			 2003-04 17 5 12-15

Post Offices: Closures

John Leech: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform on how many occasions Post Office Ltd. has responded to public opposition by reversing a decision to close a post office branch as part of the Network Change Programme; and what percentage of branches considered for closure under the programme this figure represents.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, Managing Director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
	Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Closures

Roger Williams: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post offices have been closed in villages and towns with a population smaller then 10,000 inhabitants in  (a) England,  (b) Wales,  (c) Scotland and  (d) Northern Ireland in each year since 1997.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
	Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Post Offices: Disabled

David Kidney: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform to what extent Post Office Ltd. is required to ensure that post offices providing services to members of the public are compliant with laws relating to disabled access.

Patrick McFadden: Post Office Ltd. acknowledges the requirements of the Disability Discrimination Act. Post Office Ltd. itself is responsible for compliance with the Act in respect of access for disabled people to its services at Crown offices, and sub-postmasters and franchisees are similarly responsible for promoting disabled access to the services they provide.
	Post Office Ltd. is committed to the needs of all disabled customers whether they visit Crown offices or franchised offices and it is therefore engaged in a continuing process of working with its sub-postmasters to maximise the accessibility of its services to disabled customers and support compliance with the Act.
	For example, as part of the Network Change Programme, where a post office branch has been selected for closure, Post Office Ltd. has checked the accessibility of alternative local branches including the accessibility of public transport for disabled people. Post Office Ltd. has also set up a fund that contributes towards improvements in sub-postmasters' premises that improve access for disabled people. Post Office Ltd. has also trialled using the Direct Enquiries website to provide information to disabled people on the accessibility of branches.

Post Offices: Military Bases

Robert Walter: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many post offices situated within the secure areas of military establishments have been closed or are scheduled for closure as part of the Post Office Network Change programme; and if he will list their locations.

Patrick McFadden: This is an operational matter for Post Office Ltd. (POL). I have therefore asked Alan Cook, managing director of POL, to reply direct to the hon. Member.
	Copies of the letter will be placed in the Libraries of the House.

Postwatch: Publications

Andrew Selous: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how much the hardback book "Post, Present and Future", produced by Postwatch in September 2008, cost to produce and distribute.

Patrick McFadden: holding answer 13 October 2008
	The costs of producing and distributing the hardback report, "Post, present and future", recently published by Postwatch, are as follows:
	Production costs: £29,010
	Distribution costs: £2,483

Postwatch: Publications

James Duddridge: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what costs were incurred in the  (a) production and  (b) distribution by post of the Postwatch publication, "Post, Present and Future".

Kate Hoey: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what the cost was of  (a) producing and  (b) distributing the hardback report "Past, Present and Future" recently published by Postwatch.

Patrick McFadden: The costs of producing and distributing the report, "Post, present and future", recently published by Postwatch are as follows:
	Production costs: £29,010
	Distribution costs: £2,483

Recruitment: Complaints

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many complaints the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has received regarding the advertising of non-existent jobs in the last 12 months; and how many of these complaints have been upheld.

Patrick McFadden: Between 1 October 2007 and 30 September 2008, the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate received 30 complaints regarding the potential breach of the regulation regarding the advertisement of non-existent jobs (regulation 27 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Businesses Regulations 2003). All 30 complaints were investigated and warnings were issued to 11 companies who were found to be in breach of the Regulations.

Recruitment: Fraud

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform how many companies have been found to be advertising non-existent jobs in each of the last 10 years.

Patrick McFadden: The Department does not hold such information.
	The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) acts to resolve complaints about advertisements in UK media, including television, radio, press, posters, direct marketing and some online advertising. The ASA publishes details of all formally resolved adjudications on its website. This database can be accessed at:
	http://www.asa.org.uk/asa/adjudications/public/

Recruitment: Fraud

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what powers the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate has to prevent recruitment companies from placing advertisements for non-existent jobs.

Patrick McFadden: The Employment Agency Standards (EAS) Inspectorate investigates all complaints received about recruitment companies that suggest any breach of employment agency legislation. This includes the regulations governing advertisements, where agencies cannot advertise specific vacancies unless they have the authority of the employer concerned in respect of that position.
	Any breach of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 is a criminal offence and agencies can be prosecuted in the magistrate's court. In addition, the EAS has powers to seek to prohibit individuals from being involved in the running of an agency for up to 10 years.

Recruitment: Fraud

Sarah Teather: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what steps he is taking to prevent the publication in print or via the internet of bogus notices from recruitment agencies and other organisations advertising non-existent jobs.

Patrick McFadden: Regulation 27 of the Conduct of Employment Agencies and Employment Business Regulations 2003 specifies that agencies cannot advertise specific vacancies in print or on the internet unless they have the authority of the employer concerned. The Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate investigates any complaints received. Any breach of regulations is a criminal offence which can be prosecuted in magistrates court.
	In addition, misleading advertisements made by both the recruitment agencies and other organisations about employment vacancies may be prohibited under the Business Protection from Misleading Marketing Regulations 2008, which is enforced by Trading Standards and the Office of Fair Trading (OFT).
	More generally, all employers placing vacancies with Jobcentre Plus are required to provide specified information (including contact details) to help reduce the likelihood of bogus employers advertising vacancies and to safeguard jobseekers. Jobcentre Plus has a robust Employer Complaints process through which jobseekers can report any issues around inappropriate vacancies or employer activities. If Jobcentre Plus receives a complaint from a customer about an employer who is advertising fictitious vacancies it will be investigated. If the investigation concludes the employer is advertising bogus vacancies, they will be removed from their systems immediately and if appropriate, access to Jobcentre Plus services may be withdrawn to the employer.
	Additionally, Jobcentre Plus has put further measures in place to ensure that recruitment agencies only advertise genuine vacancies. Most importantly, before vacancies are accepted Jobcentre Plus requires them to sign a service level agreement (SLA) with Jobcentre Plus agreeing to the terms for using their services. Jobcentre Plus takes these conditions very seriously and will investigate any complaints that individual agencies are not complying with the terms of the SLA. This ultimately could lead to Jobcentre Plus terminating service with a recruitment agency in breach of their agreement.

Small Businesses: Regional Development Agencies

Ben Wallace: To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what research his Department has  (a) undertaken,  (b) commissioned and  (c) evaluated on attitudes of small and medium-sized enterprises to regional development agencies.

Patrick McFadden: The Department has conducted the following research into regional development agencies (RDAs), which included attitudes of small and medium-sized enterprises to RDAs.
	In 2006-07, the National Audit Office carried out independent performance assessments (IPAs) of all the RDAs (except for London which had been covered in a previous Audit Commission review). This is available on the NAO website:
	http://www.nao.org.uk/guidance/rdas.htm.
	In 2003, BERR published the results of regional surveys of stakeholders' perception of the RDAs. The survey was not directed specifically at small and medium sized enterprises, but included the Small Business Service (SBS), Business Links (BL), voluntary sector, businesses, chambers of commerce (LCC).The surveys were commissioned from MORI Social Research Institute.

TICC: Redundancy

Clive Betts: To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform pursuant to the answer of 6 October 2008,  Official Report, column 292W, on TICC: redundancy, how much was paid in compensation on a non-statutory basis; and under what authority.

Patrick McFadden: Nil. Only payments guaranteed by statute are payable from the National Insurance Fund to employees on the insolvency of an employer.

HOME DEPARTMENT

Alcoholic Drinks: Young People

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people have been  (a) charged and  (b) convicted of persistently selling alcohol to children under section 147A of the Licensing Act 2003.

Alan Campbell: Section 147A of the Licensing Act 2003, as amended by section 23 of the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006 came into force on 6 April 2007.
	As a result, complete data for this offence will be available for 2008 and beyond. Court proceedings data for 2008 will be available in the autumn of 2009. Data in relation to individuals charged with offences are not held centrally.

Animal Experiments: Scotland

Katy Clark: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what the reasons are for the increase in the number of scientific procedures on animals at commercial establishments in Scotland from approximately 35,000 in 2006 to approximately 70,000 in 2007.

Meg Hillier: The apparent increase in the number of scientific procedures on animals at commercial establishments in Scotland in 2007 is principally explained by a change in the way in which the figures were calculated. Using the revised, more accurate methodology, the corresponding figures for 2006 and 2007 were, 67,776 and 70,296, respectively. The increase of 3.7 per cent. arises from a normal variation in the level of business activity.

Antisocial Behaviour Orders: Yorkshire and the Humber

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people  (a) under the age of 18 years and  (b) aged 18 years and over were served with anti-social behaviour orders in (i) Leeds and (ii) Yorkshire in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: Information on the number of Antisocial Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) issued is not available below Criminal Justice System (CJS) area level.
	The latest available data for the West Yorkshire CJS area are to 31 December 2006 and are shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Number of anti social behaviour orders issued at all courts in the West Yorkshire Criminal Justice System area, as reported to the Home Office by the Court Service, by age group( 1) , 1 January 2002 to  31 December 2006 
			  West Yorkshire  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  Total 
			 10-17 11 60 156 115 81 423 
			 18+ 3 37 148 143 136 467 
			 Age unknown(1) — — 1 2 — 3 
			 Total 14 97 305 260 217 893 
			 (1) Where age not reported to the Office for Criminal Justice Reform.  Notes: 1. Previously issued data have been revised. 2. Every effort is made to ensure that the figures presented are accurate and complete. However, it is important to note that these data have been extracted from large administrative data systems generated by the courts. As a consequence, care should be taken to ensure data collection processes and their inevitable limitations are taken into account when those data are used.

Computers: Crime

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when sections 35 to 38 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 relating to computer misuse are expected to be brought into effect; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: Sections 35 to 38 of the Police and Justice Act 2006 were commenced on 10 October 2008 along with Part 2 of the Serious Crime Act 2007.

Computers: Crime

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to extend the application of serious crime prevention orders to offences under the Computer Misuse Act 1990; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The Government are currently preparing a consultation document to enable a full public consultation on this matter. It is expected that this consultation will begin in November and run for 12 weeks. The outcome of the consultation will determine whether the application of serious crime prevention orders is extended to include offences under the Computer Misuse Act.

Crime

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent assessment she has made of the extent and nature of gang-related criminal activity; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: There is no single definition of a 'gang' and so it is difficult to assess the extent and nature of gang activity.
	However, the Tackling Gangs Action Programme (September 2007 to March 2008) was set up to tackle gangs who use serious violence and firearms as a central part of their activities. The focus was in the four cities with the highest number of firearms homicides: London, Manchester, Birmingham and Liverpool.
	As part of this work, police forces in these cities identified 774 individuals, of whom 655 had on average 11 convictions each, of which the majority were for public order, harassment, drugs, violence and acquisitive offences.

Crime: Cambridgeshire

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent evaluation has taken place of the efficacy of the prolific and priority offenders programme in  (a) Peterborough and  (b) Cambridgeshire; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The Home Office has not commissioned a separate evaluation of the Prolific and other Priority Offender programme in Peterborough or Cambridgeshire. A report on the national evaluation of programme was published in February 2007 as Home Office Online report 08/07. This showed that those offenders first selected as Prolific and other Priority Offenders in September and October 2004 had a reduction of 62 per cent. in their overall level of convictions over their first 17 months on the programme. These findings are very positive, although we cannot necessarily attribute them solely to the programme because we do not know what would have happened had it not been introduced.
	A copy of the full evaluation report is available on the Home Office and crime reduction websites
	www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/onlinepubs1.html
	www.crimereduction.gov.uk/ppo/ppominisite01.htm.

Crime: Peterborough

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what funding was allocated to the prolific and priority offenders programme in Peterborough City Council area in each year since 2001; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The Prolific and other Priority Offender programme was launched in 2004 to tackle those offenders in every area of England and Wales who commit most crime or whose offending causes most damage to their local communities. The programme involves effective partnership working between agencies. It does not receive direct, dedicated funding from the Government. The costs of the programme are met locally.

Crime: Statistics

Bob Spink: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to collect statistics on the number of recorded offences that are investigated by the police; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: There are no plans to collect this information centrally.

Crimes Against Humanity

John Bercow: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people suspected of  (a) war crimes,  (b) crimes against humanity and  (c) genocide are estimated to be present in the UK; and if she will make a statement.

Phil Woolas: The Home Office does not collate data on the total numbers in the UK who are suspected of these crimes. Certain applicants to the UK Border Agency are screened for involvement in war crimes, crimes against humanity or genocide. Figures on the numbers considered by the War Crimes Team are provided in response to question 224629,  Official Report, column 1072W, although these are based only on applicants to UKBA and are not directly indicative of the numbers of suspects estimated to be present in the UK.

Criminal Records

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department if she will make it her policy to ensure that unproven allegations against an individual where no charge has been made or conviction secured are not registered on the Criminal Records Bureau's database.

Meg Hillier: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) only operates a central database in order to record transactions that occur during the disclosure process, where an applicant's personal data, provided on an application form, are compared against information held by the police, the Department of Health and the Department for Children, Schools and Families.
	Enhanced disclosures also contain relevant non-conviction information provided by local police forces. Non-conviction information of this sort is referred to as "approved information" and is released under Section 113B (4) of Part V of the Police Act 1997, which states that:
	"Before issuing an enhanced criminal record certificate the Secretary of State shall request the chief officer of every relevant police force to provide any information which, in the chief officer's opinion (a) might be relevant for the purpose described in the statement under subsection (2) (the positions eligible for Enhanced Disclosure) and (b) ought to be included in the certificate".
	Therefore, the police have a duty to disclose information which they believe may be relevant and should be disclosed.
	The chief officer of each police force is Data Controller, under the Data Protection Act 1998, of all information placed by that force on the PNC or retained in local force records. Therefore, only the chief officer of any given force or his nominee has the power to amend or delete the approved information relating to an applicant and neither the CRB nor the Home Office has any influence over such decisions.
	The CRB does operate a disputes process, which enables an individual to challenge the accuracy and relevancy of any information shown on their Disclosure.

Criminal Records Bureau: Standards

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people contested details held on record by the Criminal Records Bureau in each of the last five years.

Meg Hillier: The Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) do not hold criminal records but do release information held on police records and other data sources.
	The total number of disclosures where the details released by the CRB were contested by the applicant in the last five years is detailed in the following table. These are referred to within the disclosure process as disputes and the CRB has procedures in place to allow an applicant to dispute the information provided.
	
		
			   2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Total number of disputes 1,739 2,265 2,675 3,077 4,931 
			 Total number of disclosures issued 2,284,688 2,430,937 2,770,265 3,277,957 3,323,251

Departmental Marketing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the cost-effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of her Department.

Phil Woolas: All Home Office advertising media buying is placed via the Central Office of Information (COI). Aggregation of government expenditure ensures that media bought via COI is cost-effective and delivers value for money. The prices that Government pay for media spend are benchmarked against those of private sector advertisers by independent media auditors and this demonstrates significant savings for the taxpayer.

Departmental Official Hospitality

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which  (a) dining,  (b) cultural and sporting and  (c) hospitality events (i) Ministers in her Department, (ii) officials in the UK Border Agency and its predecessors and (iii) officials in the Identity and Passport Service and its predecessors have attended which were funded by (A) Government and (B) private sector companies with contracts to work for her Department in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: The information requested is not held centrally and could be obtained only at disproportionate cost.

Deportation

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were deported from the UK in each of the last 30 years.

Phil Woolas: The following table shows the number of persons removed, including voluntary departures, from the UK in each of the last 30 years.
	Further National Statistics on removals from the UK are available from the Library of the House and Table 6.1 of the Control of Immigration: Statistics United Kingdom 2007 bulletin
	http://www.homeoffice.gov.uk/rds/pdfs08/hosb1108.pdf.
	
		
			  Removals and voluntary departures( 1)  from the United Kingdom, 1978 to 2007( 2) 
			   Asylum cases, principal( 3)  Asylum cases, dependants( 4)  Asylum cases, total  Non-asylum cases  All removals and voluntary departures 
			 1978 n/a n/a n/a n/a 15,950 
			 1979 n/a n/a n/a n/a 20,320 
			 1980 n/a n/a n/a n/a 18,950 
			 1981 n/a n/a n/a n/a 14,810 
			 1982 n/a n/a n/a n/a 13,730 
			 1983 n/a n/a n/a n/a 15,355 
			 1984 n/a n/a n/a n/a 18,915 
			 1985 n/a n/a n/a n/a 19,665 
			 1986 n/a n/a n/a n/a 25,070 
			 1987 n/a n/a n/a n/a 20,540 
			 1988 n/a n/a n/a n/a 22,915 
			 1989 n/a n/a n/a n/a 27,445 
			 1990 n/a n/a n/a n/a 23,460 
			 1991 n/a n/a n/a n/a 24,070 
			 1992 1,350 n/a n/a 19,820 21,160 
			 1993 1,820 n/a n/a 21,000 22,820 
			 1994 2,220 n/a n/a 20,210 22,430 
			 1995 3,170 n/a n/a 21,060 24,230 
			 1996 4,820 n/a n/a 21,840 26,660 
			 1997 7,165 n/a n/a 23,985 31,150 
			 1998 6,990 n/a n/a 27,930 34,920 
			 1999 (5)7,665 n/a n/a 30,115 37,780 
			 2000 (5)8,980 n/a n/a 37,665 46,645 
			 2001 (5)9,285 1,495 10,780 39,850 50,625 
			 2002 10,740 3,170 13,910 54,720 68,630 
			 2003 13,005 4,890 17,895 46,495 64,390 
			 2004 12,595 2,315 14,915 46,245 61,160 
			 2005 13,730 1,955 15,685 42,530 58,215 
			 2006 16,330 1,950 18,280 45,585 63,865 
			 2007(6) 12,705 1,000 13,705 49,660 63,365 
			 n/a = not available (1) Prior to 1989 figures exclude EC (European Commission) nationals refused entry at port and subsequently removed. Since 1994 figures include persons removed from juxtaposed controls. Since 1999 figures include persons leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes run by the International Organization for Migration. Since 2005 figures include persons who it has been established have left the UK without informing the immigration authorities. Since October 2006 figures include persons leaving under Facilitated Return Schemes. (2) Figures rounded to the nearest five and may not sum to the totals shown because of independent rounding. (3) Persons who had sought asylum as some stage, excluding dependants. (4) Data on dependants removed are not available before April 2001. (5) Figures may include a small number of dependants leaving under Assisted Voluntary Return Programmes. (6) Provisional figures.

Deportation: Offenders

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which sections of the UK Border Act relating to the deportation of foreign national prisoners  (a) had and  (b) had not been commenced on 30 September 2008; and the provisions of which sections are in active use.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 14 October 2008
	UK Borders Act 2007 Commencement Order No. 3, came into force on 1 August 2008. This order commenced the following provisions which are now in active use.
	(a) the provisions set out in Section 32-38 (inclusive) in respect of a person to whom Condition 1 (within the meaning of section 32 of that Act) applies; and
	(b) section 39 (consequential amendments).

Detention Centres

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many mobile detention centres her Department was operating on 30 September 2008.

Phil Woolas: A mobile detention facility pilot consisting of a single vehicle started in Northampton on 30 September and will last for five weeks. This pilot will cover the full range of operational scenarios to test operational capability within the UK and how it complements, or adds to the existing fleet of vehicles available to United Kingdom Border Agency enforcement officers.

Detention Centres

Sally Keeble: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the first pilot of the use of mobile detention vans by the Border Agency.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 13 October 2008
	A first pilot of a mobile detention solution ended in January 2008. It focused on the needs of immigration officers operating at small ports without short term holding facilities. The deployment in Poole and Newhaven was used to hold people discovered in vehicle searches as a more secure alternative to transporting them to police stations.
	The integration of customs and immigration activity at ports as part of the creation of the United Kingdom Border Agency has led to a review of existing port holding facilities. That will inform a future decision on the deployment of any future mobile capability.
	During the course of the pilot, the merit of using this type of facility for both pre-planned enforcement operations and to apprehend illegal immigrants was also considered. As a result, the need for a revised vehicle specification was identified to provide the additional flexibility required by UKBA's operational enforcement officers.
	Using the revised specification, a second mobile detention pilot started in the Northampton area on 30 September 2008.

Domestic Violence

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what her most recent estimate is of the incidence of domestic violence in  (a) rural and  (b) urban areas.

Alan Campbell: As part of a statutory performance indicator, data on the number of domestic violence incidents reported to the police in England and Wales is collected annually. The most recent available figures for 2006-07 were collected under the police performance assessment framework.
	The figures, broken down by  (a) rural and  (b) urban police force areas in England and Wales in accordance with the ACORN (a classification of residential neighbourhoods) are outlined in the following table.
	
		
			  D omestic violence incidents — 2006-07 
			  Force area  Number r eported 
			  Rural  
			 Cambridgeshire 7,501 
			 Cumbria 4,372 
			 Devon and Cornwall 22,828 
			 Durham 8,163 
			 Dyfed Powys(1) 3,871 
			 Gloucestershire 8,237 
			 Lincolnshire(1) 4,912 
			 Norfolk 7,893 
			 North Wales(1) 10,188 
			 North Yorkshire(1) 5,986 
			 Suffolk 4,314 
			 West Mercia 12,799 
			 Wiltshire 6,600 
			 Total 107,664 
			   
			  Urban  
			 Cheshire 5,161 
			 City of London(2) 96 
			 Cleveland 6,083 
			 Greater Manchester(2) 64,727 
			 Hertfordshire 10,926 
			 Lancashire 22,217 
			 Merseyside(2) 25,568 
			 Metropolitan Police(2) 69,438 
			 Northumbria 24,277 
			 Nottinghamshire 17,534 
			 South Wales 15,421 
			 South Yorkshire 17,825 
			 Staffordshire 18,659 
			 Surrey 11,742 
			 West Midlands(2) 40,233 
			 West Yorkshire 34,481 
			 Total 384,388 
			 (1) Most rural (2) Most urban

Domestic Violence

Geoffrey Cox: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many cases of domestic violence were reported to the police in each police force area in England and Wales in each of the last five years.

Alan Campbell: From the information collected centrally on recorded crime, it is not possible to identify recorded cases of domestic violence. Such offences are not specifically defined by law and details of the individual circumstances of offences are not collected.
	The British Crime Survey (BCS) routinely provides information on the number of incidents of domestic violence in England and Wales but it is not possible to break the statistics down by police force area.

Drinking Banning Orders

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many drinking banning orders have been granted under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006.

Alan Campbell: None. Drinking banning orders have not yet been commenced under the Violent Crime Reduction Act 2006. The implementation of DBOs has been delayed in the light of recent developments; an improvement in alcohol-related disorder problems and the Government's Alcohol Strategy which sets out the way forward for tackling alcohol misuse. We will need to monitor the situation and take stock at a later date on whether, in the light of this, there is still a need for DBOs.

Driving Offences

Theresa Villiers: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people were stopped by police for driving an unsafe car which did not comply with MOT requirements in  (a) Wales and  (b) each region of England in (i) each of the last 10 years and (ii) 2008.

Alan Campbell: Information on such stops is not recorded centrally.
	Available information on court proceedings, issue of fixed penalty notices, Vehicle Defect Rectification Scheme notices and written warnings in respect of vehicle test and condition offences is contained in the Ministry of Justice Statistical Bulletin "Motoring Offences and Breath Test Statistics, England and Wales 2006" and its associated Supplementary Tables. The documents are available on the Ministry of Justice website at:
	www.justice.gov.uk/publications/motoringoffences.htm

Drugs: Crime

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what assessment she has made of the prevalence of incidents involving the use of covert administration of scopolamine derivatives in connection with crimes of assault.

Alan Campbell: No assessment has been made on this matter.

Entry Clearances

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many visas issued by posts abroad were revoked in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: A visa may be revoked by the visa-issuing post overseas under paragraph 30A of the Immigration Rules if (a) false representations were made or material facts not disclosed for the purpose of obtaining the visa, or (b) a change of circumstances since the visa was issued has removed the basis of the holder's claim to be admitted to the UK, or (c) the holder's exclusion from the UK would be conducive to the public good. Apart from multiple entry visit visas, a visa may only be revoked before the holder has travelled to the UK. (A visa may also be cancelled by the visa-issuing post for administrative reasons, e.g. where a mistake has been made).
	An Immigration Officer at a UK port may refuse Leave to Enter to the holder of a valid visa for any of the above reasons under paragraph 321 of the Immigration Rules. Such a refusal would invalidate the visa. Leave to Enter which is in force may also be curtailed or cancelled for similar reasons under paragraphs 321A-323 of the rules.
	We can only gather information about revoked visas at disproportionate cost because it cannot be retrieved centrally for technical reasons. Local searches could be initiated if a particular country is specified.

Entry Clearances: Belarus

Robert Goodwill: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department which Belarusian nationals are on the Government's list of those denied entry to the UK.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency maintains a watchlist of information and intelligence which is used to inform decisions. It is longstanding policy not to disclose the specific data held on this watchlist or the source of the data on it.
	The UK does comply with the travel ban imposed by the EU against certain officials of Belarus. The details of those subject to an EU travel ban are published by the EU on their Common Foreign and Security Policy website.

Homicide

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the number of gang-related homicides in each of the last three years.

Alan Campbell: Available data were published in table 1.06 of "Homicides, Firearm Offences and Intimate Violence 2005-06" which was released as an internet-only Home Office Statistical Bulletin on 25 January 2007. At that time there were 10 homicides currently recorded under the apparent principal circumstance category of 'attributed to gang warfare, feud or faction fighting' for 2003-04, nine for 2004-05 and seven for 2005-06. However, with the introduction of a new database in March 2007, comparable data for 2006-07 are not available. It is hoped that figures for 2007-08 will be available after the next annual homicide chapter is published in January 2009.

Identity Cards: Finance

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has paid to  (a) public relations and advertising companies,  (b) consultants and  (c) other firms for advice on identity cards and identity management in each of the last five years.

Meg Hillier: I refer the hon. Gentleman to my answer of 6 March 2008,  Official Report, column 2691W, to the hon. Member for Fareham (Mr. Hoban).

Immigrants: Marriage

Fiona Mactaggart: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when she plans to issue guidance on the UK Borders Agency website on the implications of the House of Lords judgements in the cases of Metock and of Baiai.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency is implementing the ECJ judgment in the case of Metock, which relates to the conditions under which European economic area (EEA) nationals' direct family members can reside in the UK. Updated guidance will be published shortly. The UK Border Agency's processes for assessing applications from those in the UK are already compliant with the Metock ruling.
	The House of Lords judgment of 30 July in the cases of R (on the application of Baiai and others)  v. Secretary of State for the Home Department concerns the Certificate of Approval scheme under section 19 of the Asylum and Immigration (Treatment of Claimants etc) Act 2004 which was developed as a way of combating sham marriages. The UK Border Agency is considering the full implications of this judgment and will publish appropriate guidance once that consideration is completed.

Immigration

Shailesh Vara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what recent estimate she has made of projected levels on net migration into the UK over the next  (a) five,  (b) 10 and  (c) 25 years; from which countries arrivals are expected; and if she will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your question asking what recent estimate has been made of projected levels of net migration into the UK over the next (a) five, (b) 10 and (c) 25 years; from which countries arrivals are expected. (226841)
	National population projections are normally produced every two years. The latest (2006-based) national population projections were published by the Office for National Statistics in October 2007 and the next (2008-based) set are planned for publication in October 2009.
	The levels of net inward migration to the UK for future years assumed in the 2006-based projections are summarised in the following table. The assumptions underlying national population projections are demographic trend based. They are not forecasts. They do not attempt to predict the impact that future government policies, changing economic circumstances or other factors (whether in the UK or overseas) might have on demographic behaviour.
	
		
			  Mid-year to mid-year  Assumed net migration 
			 2008-09 +230,000 
			 2009-10 +221,400 
			 2010-11 +211,400 
			 2011-12 +201,400 
			 2012-13 and 2013-14 +191,400 
			 2014-15 onwards +190,000 
		
	
	These assumptions are not available broken down by country of origin or destination.

Licensing Laws

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many summary reviews of a premises licence have been sought by the Police under section 53A of the Licensing Act 2003.

Alan Campbell: This information is not held centrally by the Home Department.

Members: Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister of State expects to reply to the letters to the UK Border Agency, dated 10 June 2008 (ask card ref B20445/8) and 9 September 2008 from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood, regarding Damion McDermott (receipt no. LR162100466).

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency wrote to my right hon. Friend on 16 July 2008 and again on 13 October 2008.

Members: Correspondence

Clare Short: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when the Minister of State expects to reply to the enquiry dated 9 September 2008 from the hon. Member for Birmingham, Ladywood regarding Saeed Saleh (Home Office reference H1069116).

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency wrote to my right hon. Friend on 10 October 2008.

Members: Correspondence

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department when her Department plans to reply to the letter from the hon. Member for Manchester Central of 25 July 2008, on JT, reference M15977/8.

Phil Woolas: holding answer 14 October 2008
	The Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department, my hon. Friend the Member for Hackney, South and Shoreditch (Meg Hillier) wrote to my hon. Friend on 9 October 2008.

Offensive Weapons: Leeds

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people aged  (a) under the age of 18 years and  (b) 18 years and over were arrested in Leeds for carrying (i) knives and (ii) firearms in each of the last 12 months.

Alan Campbell: The information requested is not collected centrally.
	The arrests collection held by the Home Office covers arrests for recorded crime (notifiable offences) only, broken down at a main offence group level, such as violence against the person and robbery.

Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit

James Brokenshire: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how the Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit will co-ordinate its work with the  (a) Police Central E-Crime Unit and  (b) National Fraud Strategic Authority; and if she will make a statement.

Alan Campbell: The Police Central E-Crime Unit was launched on 30 September 2008 and will provide law enforcement support for electronic crime reported to the National Fraud Reporting Centre (NFRC), and will also help develop the overall policing response to electronic crime. It is envisaged that this unit will be operational in spring 2009 and the relationship it will have with the Payment Industry and Police Joint Intelligence Unit (PIPJIU) has yet to be finalised, but work on developing the unit is ongoing.
	The National Fraud Strategic Authority (NFSA) was formally created as an executive agency of the Attorney-General's office on 1 October to drive forward a comprehensive national strategy for tackling fraud. It brings together Government, criminal justice practitioners, business and the public, focusing on reducing the harm caused by fraud and making the UK a harder target for fraudsters.
	Another part of the National Fraud Programme, the NFRC, will radically streamline the way that the public report fraud to the police, while its intelligence bureau will equip law enforcement agencies with a powerful intelligence tool and help form the basis of better prevention advice and alerts for businesses and the public. The NFRC is expected to become operational in spring 2009 and details of how it will operate are still being finalised. However, it is envisaged that it will accept reports of fraud both from individual members of the public and from organisations such as the PIPJIU.

Police: Manpower

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many police officers per 100,000 residents there were in  (a) Derbyshire,  (b) Chesterfield and  (c) each police authority in England in each year since 1997.

Vernon Coaker: The information requested is as follows:
	 (a), (c) Data at the police force level are published annually in the Home Office Statistical Bulletin series "Police Service Strength, England and Wales", and are given in table 1.
	 (b) Data at the basic command unit level have been collected since 2002-03, are published annually online as supplementary tables of the main Police Service Strength bulletin, and are given in table 2.
	
		
			  Table 1: Police officers( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  per 100,000 of the population for by police force, as at 31 March 1997 to 31 March 2008 
			   As at 31 March : 
			  Police force  1997( 3)  1998  1999  2000  2001( 4)  2002  2003  2004  2005  2006  2007  2008 
			 Avon and Somerset 204 203 203 197 197 205 213 229 225 226 224 218 
			 Bedfordshire 200 197 189 185 184 189 198 210 215 213 207 204 
			 Cambridgeshire 188 184 179 172 179 187 196 197 194 196 187 183 
			 Cheshire 209 208 211 204 204 209 217 224 223 223 225 218 
			 Cleveland 261 266 255 252 253 263 294 314 305 308 315 303 
			 Cumbria 233 237 229 220 213 224 237 254 257 256 255 251 
			 Derbyshire 187 184 182 183 187 189 210 216 213 212 209 212 
			 Devon and Cornwall 186 192 186 182 187 192 204 208 212 219 216 214 
			 Dorset 189 192 186 189 196 198 205 209 211 216 217 216 
			 Durham 240 249 258 256 263 266 281 288 293 288 285 272 
			 Essex 197 193 190 183 178 181 186 192 198 203 203 203 
			 Gloucestershire 205 198 197 200 209 209 219 229 230 228 229 234 
			 Greater Manchester 268 270 265 264 268 279 298 323 321 318 314 315 
			 Hampshire 198 199 197 193 193 195 208 211 212 211 215 214 
			 Hertfordshire 205 202 198 201 184 174 191 204 206 208 210 204 
			 Humberside 230 228 223 219 217 234 244 256 255 251 251 248 
			 Kent 210 209 204 203 209 210 221 228 227 227 229 227 
			 Lancashire 228 229 228 223 228 231 239 252 251 253 252 254 
			 Leicestershire 211 214 215 215 218 224 232 246 246 241 237 233 
			 Lincolnshire 196 193 184 179 191 189 191 189 185 183 183 175 
			 London, City of(5) * * * * * * * * * * * * 
			 Merseyside 296 297 298 290 291 294 302 303 318 315 325 331 
			 Metropolitan Police(5) 367 356 352 341 351 366 404 420 433 428 426 430 
			 Norfolk 185 184 176 175 178 183 189 190 192 193 191 190 
			 Northamptonshire 196 193 186 181 186 194 194 198 201 207 200 196 
			 Northumbria 256 263 269 266 272 278 290 294 294 291 283 285 
			 North Yorkshire 183 186 181 173 175 188 193 203 206 216 217 202 
			 Nottinghamshire 225 225 216 214 214 226 239 245 245 243 235 224 
			 South Yorkshire 242 244 243 243 245 246 252 261 260 259 256 248 
			 Staffordshire 209 217 211 204 201 201 212 218 220 219 219 214 
			 Suffolk 180 179 179 171 168 177 188 196 195 191 196 188 
			 Surrey 209 207 212 227 192 184 182 183 184 184 183 179 
			 Sussex 211 203 191 188 188 190 203 206 205 207 205 201 
			 Thames Valley 180 183 180 178 175 177 186 195 198 202 199 194 
			 Warwickshire 186 185 180 178 182 190 198 197 195 198 199 198 
			 West Mercia 183 180 180 166 171 176 196 202 203 202 205 210 
			 West Midlands 270 271 278 274 283 293 307 311 316 318 318 324 
			 West Yorkshire 247 244 236 228 228 230 242 254 271 270 270 269 
			 Wiltshire 195 195 192 185 184 189 190 198 198 196 192 190 
			 Dyfed-Powys 212 210 215 217 219 234 237 236 237 237 236 237 
			 Gwent 275 222 224 227 229 239 244 248 259 264 268 266 
			 North Wales 208 213 212 213 220 228 234 243 250 242 238 234 
			 South Wales 223 242 241 236 250 259 273 275 273 271 273 264 
			 (1) This table is based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Figures up to 31 March 2002 exclude staff on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. The figures for 31 March 2003 onwards include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave. (3) Boundary changes on 1 April 1996 transferred resources for the policing of the Rhmney Valley from South Wales police to Gwent police. (4) Boundary changes on 1 April 2000 transferred some resources from the Metropolitan police to Essex, Hertfordshire and Surrey police forces. (5) Officers per 100,000 population for City of London and Metropolitan police are combined. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2: Police officers( 1)  (FTE)( 2)  per 100,000 of the population for Chesterfield basic command unit, as at 31 March 2003 to 31 March 2008 
			  As at 31 March:  FTE 
			 2003 140 
			 2004 139 
			 2005 129 
			 2006 137 
			 2007 126 
			 2008 129 
			 (1) This table is based on full-time equivalent figures that have been rounded to the nearest whole number. Because of rounding, there may be an apparent discrepancy between totals and the sums of the constituent items. (2) Figures include those on career breaks or maternity/paternity leave.

Police: Mass Media

Bob Russell: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  what her policy is on the disclosure of details of criminal activity by the police to the media;
	(2)  how many police forces have introduced policies of withholding reports of criminal activities from the media; and if she will make a statement;
	(3)  whether she has advised chief constables that reports of criminal activities should not be disclosed to the media;
	(4)  how many representations she has received on the decision of Essex Police not to make reports of criminal activities available to the media.

Alan Campbell: These issues are related to operational matters that are the responsibility of the chief constable of the force concerned. The Home Office has received no representations and made no recommendations. If there are particular concerns about force policy in this area they should be raised with the chief constable.

Road Traffic Offences: Foreigners

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many non-UK residents have committed motoring offences which, had they been committed by UK residents, would have resulted in  (a) a fixed penalty being issued and  (b) penalty points being added to a driving licence, excluding those offences pursuable under the provisions of the European Arrest Warrant, in the last 12 months for which figures are available.

Alan Campbell: Motoring offence statistics do not identify the place of residence of those offered fixed penalties or whose licences are endorsed by court order. The offer of a fixed penalty, whether or not accompanied by penalty points, is not automatic, but a matter of police operational discretion in every case. If a case goes to court and is endorsable the court will decide the number of penalty points to be endorsed, within the scale prescribed for the offence, or may decide for special reasons not to order endorsement.

Security Guards: Licensing

David Jones: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department 
	(1)  how many convictions under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 for supplying unlicensed security staff there were in the North Wales Police force area in 2006;
	(2)  how many convictions under the Private Security Industry Act 2001 for working in a licensable role without a Security Industry Agency licence there were in the North Wales Police force area in 2006.

Alan Campbell: holding answer 13 October 2008
	There were no convictions in the North Wales Police force area for the offence of supplying unlicensed security staff under section 5 of the Act in 2006.
	In 2006 there were seven convictions in the North Wales Police force area under section 3 of the Private Security Industry Act 2001 for working in a licensable role without a Security Industry Agency licence.

UK Border Agency: Corruption

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what mechanisms are in place in the UK Border Agency to prevent staff corruption.

Phil Woolas: There are a range of measures in place in the UK Border Agency to prevent staff corruption. These include pre-employment and security screening for staff, safeguards, checks and balances built into systems and processes and a programme of security audits. It is not in the public interest to disclose specific details of these mechanisms as to do so would compromise them.

UK Border Agency: Marketing

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department has spent on changing  (a) signage and  (b) other branded external and internal fittings at UK Border Agency buildings and airport facilities.

Phil Woolas: The UK Border Agency has not kept central records of expenditure on changes to signage and other external fittings. To attempt to provide a composite figure would represent a disproportionate cost to the Department.

UK Border Agency: Security

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many electronic breaches of security there were at the UK Border Agency in each of the last three years.

Phil Woolas: It is not in the interests of the UK's national security for Departments to confirm whether they hold information about attacks against their IT systems. This would enable individuals to deduce how successful the UK is in detecting these attacks and so assist such persons in testing the effectiveness of the UK's IT defences. This is not in the public interest.

UK Border Agency: Surveys

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what steps her Department has taken to assess staff morale at all grades within the UK Border Agency; and if she will publish the results of any such assessment.

Phil Woolas: Managers in the UK Border Agency use a wide range of methods to assess staff morale, and to hear their views on practical changes which would improve motivation and performance. These include regular conversations with direct reports and with whole teams throughout the line management chain; programmes of visits to and discussions with frontline staff; and a variety of fora hosted on the Department's intranet whereby staff can post their views and get responses from Board members and other senior managers.
	The management also hold regular meetings with the recognised trade unions at all levels.
	In common with other Departments, the Home Office including the UK Border Agency, carries out a regular survey of staff attitudes and engagement. The results of the most recent survey are available to staff on the intranet, and will be published on the Cabinet Office public website in the next month.

UK Border Agency: Uniforms

Damian Green: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how much her Department spent on the  (a) design and commissioning and  (b) manufacturing of uniforms for the UK Border Agency and its predecessors in each of the last five years.

Phil Woolas: We are not yet in a position to provide the cost of the design, manufacture and distribution of uniforms for the UK Border Agency. We are currently scoping the requirements for a single uniform for frontline officers. The costs will be dependent on the commercial and procurement solutions delivered.
	In 2006-07, the Home Department spent (inclusive of VAT) £16,017.00 on the provision of uniforms for frontline operational staff at the border; £970,001.14 in 2007-08 and £192,384.24 in 2008 to date.

Vetting

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many  (a) Criminal Records Bureau and  (b) Enhanced Criminal Records Bureau checks were conducted in each year for which figures are available.

Meg Hillier: The number of Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks which have been dispatched since the CRB's inception are detailed in the following table and separated by the two types of checks that the CRB currently offer, standard or enhanced disclosures:
	
		
			   Disclosures dispatched 
			  Financial year  Number of standard disclosures  Number of enhanced disclosures 
			 2002-03 178,375 1,258,719 
			 2003-04 285,130 1,999,558 
			 2004-05 275,197 2,155,740 
			 2005-06 313,368 2,456,897 
			 2006-07 329,223 2,948,734 
			 2007-08 294,592 3,028,659

HEALTH

Action on Smoking and Health: Finance

Nicholas Soames: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what steps he takes to audit funding provided to Action on Smoking and Health by his Department to determine what proportion is used to lobby his Department;
	(2)  how many meetings  (a) he,  (b) his ministerial colleagues and  (c) his officials have had on the future of tobacco control with (i) charities, (ii) professional bodies, (iii) retail businesses and (iv) manufacturers in the last three years; which of the charities with which meetings have been held are funded by his Department; and in each case how much funding has been allocated to each charity.

Dawn Primarolo: Action on Smoking and Health (ASH) received funding from the Department in the current financial year in accordance with the 'Section 64 General Scheme of Grants to voluntary and Community Organisations'. The standard conditions attached to these grants including audit procedures are published on the Department's website at:
	www.dh.gov.uk/en/managingyourorganisation/Financeand planning/Section64grants/DH_076281
	ASH has received this grant specifically to carry out a defined project entitled "Capitalising on Smokefree: the way forward". None of this funding is to be used for lobbying purposes.
	The Department has completed a public consultation on 31 May 2008 on the future of tobacco control. This consultation was carried out in accordance with the Cabinet office code of practice. A copy of the, consultation document has already been placed in the Library.
	Meetings have taken place at all levels of the Department, and at regional and local level. No central record has been kept of all the meetings held with the organisations listed and with other stakeholders. The consultation has received over 95,000 responses and these are being analysed.
	In due course a summary of the analysis of responses will be published on the Department's website. A large number of charitable organisations will have been involved in responding to the consultation. Details of the funding of those organisations attending meetings or taking part in this consultation have not been collected in the form requested. There will continue to be meetings with interested stakeholders at all appropriate levels, as a future strategy is developed to tackle the death and disease caused by smoking.

Breast Cancer: Screening

Mike Hancock: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what plans the Government has in place to ensure that there are appropriate resources and infrastructure for all breast screening units to have at least one full-field digital mammography set by 2010, as stated in the Cancer Reform Strategy.

Ann Keen: Primary care trusts are responsible for ensuring that all local breast screening units have at least one full-field digital mammography set by 2010. The rollout of digital mammography to the NHS Breast Screening Programme is being supported by a capital investment of approximately £120 million. This money has been allocated to trusts as part of the wider capital funding allocation they receive.
	As a result of requests from local breast screening services, we have put in place a national framework contract for digital mammography X-ray equipment. This approach will enable standardised equipment to be purchased, the best value for money to be obtained, and will support local services with national expertise. Further details on how this will be taken forward will be issued to the national health service in the autumn.

Cancer: Children

Richard Taylor: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what childhood cancer centres there are in England; and how many  (a) patients under treatment,  (b) consultant medical staff and  (c) clinical nurse specialists there are at each.

Ann Keen: The Department does not collect this data centrally.
	With regard to staff, it is for local employers to work in partnership with cancer networks, strategic health authorities, national health service trusts and post graduate deaneries to put in place a sustainable process to access, plan and review their workforce needs against local and national priorities for cancer.

Care Homes

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent assessment he has made of the availability of residential care home places in  (a) Bexley,  (b) London and  (c) England.

Phil Hope: We were informed by the Commission for Social Care Inspection (CSCI) that the total numbers of residential care homes and places, as at 10 September 2008, were as shown in the following table. It should be noted that the figures shown are the total number of registered homes and places on the date shown. Information on occupancy levels and vacancy rates in care homes is not collected centrally.
	
		
			  Numbers of care homes and registered places 
			  Area  All care homes  Registered places 
			 England 18,464 450,210 
			 London 1,978 39,916 
			 Bexley 36 1,069 
			  Source: CSCI registration and inspection database

Cervical Cancer

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he is taking to increase the detection rates for cervical cancers in women under 25 years old.

Ann Keen: The incidence of cervical cancer in women under the age of 25 is very rare. In 2005, only 1.9 per cent. of all registrations of cervical cancer were in women aged under 25 and there were no deaths from cervical cancer in that age group.
	Any women under 25 who are concerned about their risk of developing cervical cancer should contact their general practitioner or genito-urinary medicine clinic to discuss the matter.
	In September 2008, we introduced a human papillomavirus immunisation programme to routinely vaccinate girls aged 12-13 years. Young women aged 17-18 will also be offered the vaccination during the current school year, and a catch-up of girls up to the age of 18 will commence next autumn. As the vaccine offers protection against the two virus types that cause 70 per cent. of all cervical cancers, we expect this immunisation programme to reduce cervical cancer rates in England over time. Experts estimate that the programme will save 400 lives a year.

Chiropody

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what guidance his Department has published on the decontamination procedure for nail clipping implements used for chiropody care in the NHS.

Ann Keen: The Department has not published specific guidance on decontamination procedures for nail clipping or indeed other procedures within chiropody and podiatry. However, the Department has recently started a process of consultation with the professional and learned bodies across the foot-care professions and many other groups within primary care. This will result in a specific Health Technical Memorandum (HTM 01-07) Decontamination in Primary Care. Publication, following consultation and peer review, is expected in nine to 12 months' time.

Dental Services

Paul Holmes: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many dentists per 100,000 residents there were in  (a) Chesterfield,  (b) Derbyshire and  (c) England in each year since 1997.

Ann Keen: The number of dentists with NHS activity per 100,000 population, during the years ending 31 March, 2007 and 2008 is available in Table Gl of Annex 3 of the NHS Dental Statistics for England: 2007-08 report. Information is available by strategic health authority (SHA) and by primary care trust (PCT). Information by constituency is not available. This information is based on the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006.
	This measure is based on a revised methodology and therefore supersedes previously published workforce figures relating to the new dental contractual arrangements. It is not comparable to the information collected under the old contractual arrangements. The revised methodology counts the number of dental performers with NHS activity recorded via FP17 claim forms in each year ending 31 March. This report has already been placed in the Library and is also on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dental0708
	The number of persons per NHS dentist in England, as at 31 March, 1997 to 2006 is available in Annex F of the NHS Dental Activity and Workforce Report England: 31 March 2006 report. The information is provided by PCT and SHA. Equivalent information by constituency is not available; however the number of NHS dentists by constituency is available in Annex G.
	This measure relates to the number of NHS dentists recorded on PCT lists as at 31 March each year. This information is based on the old contractual arrangements, which were in place up to and including 31 March 2006. This report has already been placed in the Library and is also on the NHS Information Centre website at:
	http://www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dwfactivity
	The dentist numbers published are headcounts and do not differentiate between full-time and part-time dentists, nor do they account for the fact that some dentists may do more NHS work than others.

Dental Services

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will discuss with the Chief Dental Officer the development of a programme to encourage universal regular cleaning of teeth, with the co-operation of relevant manufacturers of oral hygiene products; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: The Department has been collaborating with manufacturers of oral hygiene products on oral health promotion since 2001. Under the Brushing for Life scheme, which was launched in 2001, free packs containing a toothbrush a tube of fluoride toothpaste and a leaflet on oral hygiene are given to families with young children in clinics and Sure Start Children's Centres. The leaflet is designed to reinforce the advice given by the health or social care professional, who gives the pack to the child's parent or carer, about the importance of brushing with fluoride toothpaste in the morning and at night. Colgate-Palmolive (UK) Ltd was awarded the contract for the supply of toothpaste in the most recent competitive tendering exercise. The chief dental officer has collaborated with the company on a series of conferences to publicise the Brushing for Life Scheme and, more recently, to promote good practice in incorporating preventive measures in general dental practice. The chief dental officer has regular contact with the other major toothpaste and oral hygiene products manufacturers.

Dental Services

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether there is a limit on the number of patients who can be registered with any one NHS dentist.

Ann Keen: How many patients a dentist is able to provide care for is a matter for the individual dentist, taking account of the contracted yearly activity he or she has agreed with their local NHS primary care trust to deliver. Registration is no longer part of the formal national remuneration system.

Dental Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS dentists have their surgeries on premises shared with private dental hygienists.

Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally. Most dentists are independent contractors, and many practice owners chose to offer both national health service and private treatment. It is for practice owners to decide whether to employ or engage a hygienist as part of their dental team, and whether or not to use them to deliver private or NHS dental treatment.

Dental Services

Julia Goldsworthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the NHS dentists' contract requires dentists offering treatment under the NHS to provide dental  (a) polishing and  (b) cleaning services under the contract.

Ann Keen: The national health service contractual requirement is to provide all proper and necessary dental care and treatment that the patient is willing to undergo. A Band 1 course of treatment (diagnosis, treatment planning and maintenance) includes examination, diagnosis (for example X-rays), advice on how to prevent future problems, and scaling and polishing if clinically needed.

Dental Services: Fees and Charges

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the average charge made by dentists for  (a) crown fitting,  (b) root treatment and  (c) a check-up.

Ann Keen: Dentists are not paid separately, nor are patients charged, for single items of national health service dental treatment. The present three tier system of NHS dental charges sets the charge payable by an NHS patient according to the overall content of each course of treatment. From 1 April 2008 the patient charge for a band 1 course of treatment which may include an examination and diagnosis, treatment planning and preventive treatment, is £16.20. The charge for a band 2 course of treatment, which includes any necessary band 1 treatment plus any interventions such as fillings or root canal treatments, is £44.60. A band 3 course of treatment, which includes any necessary band 1 and band 2 treatments plus the provision of appliances such as one or more crowns, bridges and dentures, incurs a patient charge of £198. A patient does not have to pay for NHS dental treatment if they are aged under 18; aged 18 and in full-time education; pregnant or have had a baby in the previous 12 months; or are in receipt of certain defined benefits, tax and pension credits, or qualify for assistance under the NHS low income Scheme.
	The Department collects no data on charges levied by dentists for private dental treatment, which are set by the individual dentist or dental practice.

Dental Services: Greater Manchester

David Crausby: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS patients are registered with dentists in  (a) Bolton and  (b) Greater Manchester.

Ann Keen: Under the new dental contractual arrangements, introduced on 1 April 2006, patients do not have to be registered with a NHS dentist to receive NHS care. The closest equivalent measure to "registration' is the number of patients receiving NHS dental services ("patients seen") over a 24-month period. However, this is not directly comparable to the registration data for earlier years.
	Information on the number of patients seen by an NHS dentist in England, over the previous 24-month period, is available in Table CI of Annex 3 of the "NHS Dental Statistics for England: Quarter 3: 31 December 2007" report. Information is available for the 24-month periods ending 31 March 2006, 31 March 2007, 30 June 2007, 30 September 2007 and 31 December 2007. Information is provided by strategic health authority and primary care trust (PCT).
	This report, published on 5 June 2008 by the Information Centre for health and social care, has already been placed in the Library. It is available on the Information Centre for health and social care's website at: www.ic.nhs.uk/pubs/dentalstats0708q3
	The Dental Services Division (DSD) of the NHS Business Services Authority has recently issued patients seen information at PCT level. However, this was for management purposes. PCTs have recently raised some issues which suggest that the way in which patients are allocated to PCTs across the various quarters needs to be reviewed. This means that sub-national information on patients seen was not included in the "Dental Statistics for England: 2007/08" report, published by the NHS Information Centre on 21 August 2008. The DSD has confirmed that this issue could have only a minimal impact on the national figures. They were therefore labelled as provisional pending the review. An update will be provided in the "Dental Statistics for England: 2008/09 Quarter 1" report in November 2008.

Dental Services: Private Sector

Greg Hands: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will undertake an investigation of the effect of the takeover of dental practices by Associated Dental Practices Co. Ltd on the provision of dental services; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: Associated Dental Practices is one of a number of corporate bodies providing national health service dental care. The company bids for NHS contracts on the same basis as any other company or individual practice owner. Since the reform of dental contracts in 2006, providers of dental services, do not control the level of provision of dental services but contract with primary care trusts to deliver an annual amount of service.
	We are committed to increasing the number of patients able to access NHS care and welcome the growing interest of commercial companies in providing services to the NHS.

Departmental Pay

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many non-pensionable bonuses were awarded to members of staff in his Department in the last 12 months; and at what total cost.

Ben Bradshaw: There were 809 non-pensionable bonuses awarded to staff in the last year, at a cost of £2,423,701.
	Special bonuses can be awarded to any member of staff in recognition of work beyond their normal range of duties. Annual bonuses are paid to staff who are members of the senior civil service (SCS), based on the extent to which objectives are met, how they are met and how stretching they are. The figures provided cover special bonuses for the year from 1 October 2007 to 30 September 2008, and annual SCS bonuses awarded in 2008.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average points score was for practices across each primary care trust for the 16 indicators for diabetes in the quality of outcomes framework.

Ben Bradshaw: The information requested has been placed in the Library.

Diabetes

Keith Vaz: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what figures his Department holds on predicted diabetes rates in the next 10 years; and if he will make a statement;
	(2)  how many people with diagnosed type two diabetes there are in each primary care trust; and how many people are estimated to have undiagnosed type two diabetes in each such area.

Ann Keen: The Department does not hold information on predicted diabetes rates for the next 10 years. Yorkshire and Humber Public Health Observatory's PBS Diabetes Population Prevalence Model forecasts that, if obesity levels continue to rise at the same rate, there will be over 3.2 million with people with diabetes in 2020.
	
		
			   Scenario 1: Obesity rise continues( 1)  Scenario 2: Obesity maintained at  2005 level 
			 2005 2,262,484 2,262,484 
			 2010 2,561,421 2,434,164 
			 2015 2,874,066 2,600,833 
			 2020 3,229,734 2,788,676 
			 2025 3,605,133 2,974,995 
			 (1) Based on extrapolation of 1991-2006 trend in body mass index distribution in the Health Survey for England 
		
	
	Information on the number of people diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in each primary care trust (PCT) is not available. However, tables have been placed in the Library which show the number of people on diabetes registers (including both type 1 and type 2 diabetes) from April 2007 to March 2008, broken down by PCT, from the Quality and Outcomes Framework (QOF). Patients will only contribute to the figures in QOF if they are registered with a general practice participating in the QOF. The QOF only includes people with diabetes aged 17 or over.
	The PBS Diabetes Population Prevalence Model can estimate the number of people with diagnosed and undiagnosed diabetes in each PCT. The table shows the estimated number of people with type 2 diabetes (diagnosed and undiagnosed) per PCT in 2005, the latest information available from the PBS model.

Health Inequality

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to develop a joint health inequality study with his counterparts in the Scottish Executive, Northern Ireland Assembly and Welsh Assembly Government.

Dawn Primarolo: No steps have been taken to develop a joint health inequality study. While responsibility for health matters rests with the devolved Administrations, there has been, and continues to be, liaison and co-operation between the Department and the other health departments on health inequalities, including meetings to exchange information on current work and strategy.

Health Professions: Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps the Government has taken to ensure health practitioners are suitably qualified and trained.

Ann Keen: The publication of High Quality Care for All in June 2008 followed an intensive consultation with all the key stakeholders including patients, the public and staff. The report was warmly received by all and set out how the NHS work force will be developed, specifying how the Department will work with regulatory bodies, professional groups and commissioners to ensure that health practitioners are suitable qualified and trained to deliver high quality healthcare. The report has already been placed in the Library.

Health: Finance

Dai Davies: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what estimate he has made of the cost of offering free universal health check ups for everyone over 40 years of age starting from April 2009, as announced by the Prime Minister on 23 September; what the expected take-up rate is; and on what that estimate is based.

Ann Keen: The free universal check up for those aged over 40, to which the Prime Minister referred on 23 September, is the vascular checks programme. This will put in place an integrated, systematic population-wide vascular risk assessment and management programme for those between the ages of 40 and 74. The programme will assess people's risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease.
	The total annual cost at full implementation (including interventions to manage the risk of vascular disease) was estimated to be in the region of £250 million in the first phase of the modelling. This is in addition to what is currently being spent on vascular checks type activity in many primary care trusts. The estimate is based on detailed economic modelling work that underpins the vascular checks programme, on which we have recently consulted. We are reviewing our modelling and analysis in the light of this.
	The expected take-up rate of the vascular checks programme we have used in the economic modelling is 75 per cent., based on the rate achieved in the national breast screening programme.

Health: Screening

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  from which budget the funding will be taken for the free universal check-ups for everyone over 40 years of age from April 2009;
	(2)  how his Department's free universal check-ups for everyone over 40 years of age, available from April 2009, will differ from the free consultations with a GP that are available to any patient who has not had one in the last three years;
	(3)  how his Department plans to advertise to those over the age of 40 years the availability of free universal check-ups from April 2009;
	(4)  what checks will be included in the free universal check-ups to be made available to everyone over the age of 40 years starting from April 2009;
	(5)  where the free universal check-ups available to everyone over 40 years of age will be delivered; and how long each check-up will take;
	(6)  how many free universal check-ups for those over the age of 40 years his Department expects to be given in 2009-10; and what the average cost of each check-up is expected to be;
	(7)  how frequently people over 40 years of age will be able to receive a free universal check-up after April 2009.

Ann Keen: The free universal check up for those aged over 40, to which my right hon. Friend the Prime Minister referred on 23 September, is the vascular checks programme. This will put in place an integrated, systematic population-wide vascular risk assessment and management programme for those between the ages of 40 and 74. The programme will assess people's risk of heart disease, stroke, diabetes and kidney disease. People will be recalled every five years unless they are identified as having a high risk of vascular disease or have previously untreated or undiagnosed existing vascular disease, in which case they will be managed appropriately through primary care.
	The vascular check will include a number of well-evidenced tests for vascular disease and diabetes risk factors such as blood pressure, cholesterol measurement, and Body Mass Index and questions such as age, gender, smoking status, physical activity, and family history. Each person will be given the results of their tests, which will be an individual assessment of their vascular risk, and advice on how to manage it. Following this, appropriate interventions will be offered depending on the individual's level of risk. We estimate it will take two appointments at about 15 minutes each to complete the check.
	The check is designed to be undertaken in a variety of settings to ensure maximum possible take up. For example, it can be undertaken in a general practitioners surgery, a pharmacy or other community settings such as community centres. Primary care trusts (PCTs) will commission this service and in doing so will decide the most appropriate locations in which it should be delivered bearing in mind the local needs and circumstances of their population.
	It is difficult to estimate the number of tests that will be undertaken during the first year of implementation in 2009-10 since many PCTs are already running vascular checks type programmes in their areas. Also, implementation of this programme will be phased and so the number of checks carried out in the first year will depend on the pace at which each PCT decides to roll it out. The estimated average cost of a vascular check used in the first phase of the modelling that underpins this programme was in the region of £33.50. This figure may be subject to change as further modelling work is currently underway to refine costings, following a consultation exercise over the summer. The funding to implement this programme will be allocated to PCTs.
	The NHS Next Stage Review, "High Quality Care for All", published on 30 June 2008, announced the introduction of the 'Reduce Your Risk' campaign, which will raise awareness of the vascular checks programme and vascular conditions generally. This publication has already been placed in the Library.

Heart Diseases

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health when he expects the clinical strategy on chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to be published.

Ann Keen: The Department is aiming to publish the Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Strategy before the end of the current financial year.

Independent Reconfiguration Panel

Greg Knight: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  who the last five people to leave the Independent Reconfiguration Panel were; when they left; and how long they served for;
	(2)  what discussions his Department had with the Independent Reconfiguration Panel on its review of services at Bridlington Hospital prior to the announcement of the Panel's decision;
	(3)  how many people the Independent Reconfiguration Panel employs;
	(4)  what payments members of the Independent Reconfiguration Panel receive;
	(5)  who makes appointments to the Independent Reconfiguration Panel; and what the duration of such appointments is.

Ann Keen: Four members have left the Independent Reconfiguration Panel (IRP) since it was established in 2003. Dame Kathyrn Elcoat (left 19 May 2005), Lise Llewellyn (left 31 March 2006), Malcolm Stamp (left 31 March 2006) and the Right Reverend Mark Santer (left 30 September 2007).
	Departmental officials liaised with the officers of the IRP over the timing of the publication of the IRP report on Bridlington in line with the protocol between DH and the IRP. The Secretary of State for Health also met with Dr. Peter Barrett (chair) and Richard Jeavons (chief executive) of the IRP in July 2008 to review all ongoing IRP work.
	The IRP is an advisory non-departmental public body (NDPB) sponsored by the Department of Health. The IRP is supported by three full time staff, a chief executive, a secretary and an office support manager.
	Members of the panel are entitled to claim £140 per day for work on IRP business together with normal expenses in line with civil service rates.
	It is the Appointments Commission who appoints all members to the IRP and all original members have been re-appointed though the Appointments Commission. Although the chair of the IRP was reappointed by Ministers on 1 April 2005, this time he will be re-appointed by the Appointments Commission. Initial terms of office are usually four years.

Lung Diseases

Stewart Jackson: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many individuals diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have also been diagnosed with asthma in each primary care trust in England; and if he will make a statement.

Ann Keen: This information is not held centrally as it is not possible to accurately identify or analyse patients with both asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease from General Practice Disease Registers.

Maternity Services

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much was spent on  (a) the NHS and  (b) NHS maternity services in the 2007-08 financial year.

Ann Keen: The requested statistics are given as follows.
	Forecast outturn net NHS expenditure for 2007-08 is £89,217 million(1).
	Total expenditure on the commissioning of secondary maternity services by primary care trusts in 2007-08 is £ 1,787 million(2).
	 Sources
	(1) Position at 30 September HMT COINs Database
	(2) 2007-08 Audited PCT Financial Monitoring and Accounts Forms

Maternity Services

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer to the hon. Member for South Cambridgeshire of 2 April 2008,  Official Report, columns 1101-02W, on maternity services: finance, how much was spent on NHS maternity services in each region of England in 2007-08.

Ann Keen: The information requested is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Strategic health authority (SHA)  £000 
			 East Midlands SHA 149,169 
			 East of England SHA 159,823 
			 London SHA 284,164 
			 North East SHA 90,422 
			 North West SHA 280,312 
			 South Central SHA 127,500 
			 South East Coast SHA 118,452 
			 South West SHA 164,714 
			 West Midlands SHA 198,565 
			 Yorkshire and The Humber SHA 213,775 
			   
			 England total 1,786,896 
			  Source: Audited primary care trust (PCT) Financial Monitoring and Accounts Forms 2007-08.The figures are based on the commissioning of secondary healthcare maternity services by PCTs.

Maternity Services

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess whether a policy of introducing compulsory single room occupancy in maternity units would result in the closure of any existing units.

Ann Keen: In the national health service, it is practice that all women give birth in single rooms except where medical interventions take place, for example, a caesarean section which would mean delivery in an operating theatre. Pre and post-natal stays may be in a single room or in a multi-bed bay. In some cases, especially antenatal, it may be inappropriate from a clinical standpoint, for example, day observation, for a single room to be used.
	There is no policy of compulsory single room occupancy. How maternity services are structured and commissioned, to meet the needs of the local population, is a matter for local determination.

Medical Equipment

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the cost was of disposable surgical instruments supplied to the NHS since 1997, broken down by sub-heading.

Ben Bradshaw: The information is not available in the format requested. Such information as is available is in the following table.
	NHS trusts and strategic health authorities make decisions on the use of disposable or single-use instruments at local level.
	A framework agreement for single use instruments was awarded in May 2001 with all products for England being supplied through the NHS Supply Chain. NHS Supply Chain places orders against this agreement depending on the orders received from NHS trusts. The framework is not mandatory and does not cover all NHS trusts. Prior to 2003 data were collated at a local trust level and no information is held centrally.
	
		
			  Cost of single use surgical instrument orders 
			  £ 
			  Description  2002-03  2003-04  2004-05  2005-06  2006-07  2007-08 
			 Tube suction surgical fine — 30,981 93,714 183,288 230,269 285,882 
			 Scissors tissue 167,946 187,904 186,463 214,712 229,522 269,924 
			 Scissors suture sterile hook point 210,727 217,121 218,416 235,314 227,344 234,083 
			 Scissors stitch 192,944 202,242 229,725 250,978 236,127 227,607 
			 Forceps dissecting/dressing 51,540 86,578 111,819 122,105 145,861 147,216 
			 Scissors 18,916 43,729 61,919 80,872 105,192 122,597 
			 Sponge holder — 3,168 14,188 21,059 30,027 34,088 
			 Scissors single use dressing — — — — — 207 
			 Clip Remover single use general — — — — — 814 
			 Instrument lubricant 4,608 7,514 7,919 8,345 11,478 11,529 
			 Scissors single use universal — — — — — 29 
			 Forceps single use introducing — — — — — 741 
			 Forceps single use dissecting — — — — — 169 
			 Scissors single use bandage — — — — — 257 
			 Forceps single use artery — — — — — 608 
			 Bellows single use — — — — — 146 
			 Saw blade single use — — — — — 1,150 
			 Forceps single use aural — — — — — 286 
			 Forceps single use dressing — — — — — 35 
			 Speculum single use sigmoidoscope — — — — — 609 
			 Scissors single use — — — — — 169 
			 Forceps single use splinter — — — — — 25 
			 Light stem single use proctoscope — — — — — 159 
			 Scissors single use general — — — — — 41 
			 Dilator single use tracheal — — — — — 94 
			 Speculum single use nasal — — — — — 60 
			 Scissors single use Vigo — — — — — 85 
			 Retriever single use thread — — — — — 125 
			 Bur single use conical — — — — — 80 
			 Probe single use ear — — — — — 136 
			 Applicator single use nail — — — — — 31 
			 Gallipot single use — — — — — 426 
			 Curette single use bone — — — — — 62 
			 Forceps single use uterine — — — — — 72 
			 Speculum single use proctoscope — — — — — 37 
			 Needle holder single use — — — — — 88 
			 Forceps single use nasal — — — — — 151 
			 Dilator single use throat — — — — — 132 
			 Quiver single use diathermy — — — — — 316 
			 Forceps single use general — — — — — 9 
			 Scissors single use iris — — — — — 18 
			 Sound single use uterine — — — — — 72 
			 Hook single use ear — — — — — 90 
			 Probe single use Jobson Home — — — — — 29 
			 Depressor single use tongue — — — — — 154 
			 Hook single use IUCD — — — — — 41 
			 Needle holder single use Kilner — — — — — 79 
			 Forceps single use iris — — — — — 24 
			 File single use nail — — — — — 3 
			
			 Grand total 646,680 779,238 924,163 1,116,672 1,215,820 1,340,787

Midwives

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many NHS consultant midwives there were in each region of England in 2007.

Ann Keen: The number of NHS consultant midwives there are in each region of England is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  NHS hospital and community health services: nurse consultants in the Maternity Services area of work in England by strategic health authority area as at 30 September 2007. 
			   Headcount 
			 England 53 
			   
			 North East Strategic Health Authority area 3 
			 North West Strategic Health Authority area 9 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Strategic Health Authority area 4 
			 West Midlands Strategic Health Authority area 1 
			 East of England Strategic Health Authority area 2 
			 London Strategic Health Authority area 23 
			 South East Coast Strategic Health Authority area 5 
			 South Central Strategic Health Authority area 5 
			 South West Strategic Health Authority area 1 
			  Note:  Workforce statistics are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts (PCTs) in England. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data. Processing methods and procedures are continually being updated to improve data quality. Where this happens any impact on figures already published will be assessed but unless this is significant at national level they will not be changed. Where there is impact only at detailed or local level this will be footnoted in relevant analyses.  Source:  The NHS Information Centre for health and social care.

Midwives

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of the NHS workforce in England comprised midwives in each of the last two years for which figures are available, expressed in terms of  (a) headcount and  (b) full-time equivalent.

Ann Keen: The 2006 national health service workforce census showed that there were 24,469 midwives or 18,862 full-time equivalent.
	The 2007 NHS workforce census showed that there were 25,093 midwives or 19,298 full-time equivalent.

Midwives

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the average annual cost to public funds was of training a student midwife in the latest year for which figures are available, broken down by  (a) tuition,  (b) bursary and  (c) other costs.

Ann Keen: The average national benchmark price for the tuition fee for a student midwife in 2007-08 was £7,968.
	The average NHS Bursary paid to a student midwife in 2007-08 was £5,796. This includes the basic award, all supplementary allowances and one off payments.
	Other costs include:
	a reduced rate loan for living costs from the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills. Student midwives in receipt of a means tested NHS Bursary can apply for this reduced rate loan. Information is not held centrally on the cost of these loans for student midwives.
	Access to Learning Funds which is the extra financial support provided by colleges and universities to students in financial hardship. Information is not held centrally on the cost of Access to Learning Funds for student midwives; and
	Salary support funding for student midwives who are seconded onto midwifery courses. Information is not held centrally on the salary support costs for student midwives.

Midwives

Harry Cohen: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many student midwives were in receipt of a bursary in each academic year since 1996-97; what average bursary was paid to a student midwife in each year; and what the total cost was of all bursaries paid to student midwives in each year.

Ann Keen: The number of student midwives in receipt of an NHS bursary in each year since 1996-97, the average bursary paid to a student midwife in each year and the total cost of all bursaries paid to student midwives in each year is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  Bursaries paid to NHS funded midwifery students for academic years 1996/97 to 2007/08 
			   Number of bursary holders( 1)  Bursary—amount paid( 2)  (£)  Average bursary amount (£)  Additions—amount paid( 3)  (£)  Total—amount paid (£)  Average amount paid per bursary holder (£) 
			 1996/97 n/a n/a — n/a n/a n/a 
			 1997/98 102 305,914 2,999 0 305,914 2,999 
			 1998/99 362 1,029,368 2,844 3,390 1,032,758 2,853 
			 1999/2000 1,216 4,445,349 3,656 258,518 4,703,867 3,868 
			 2000/01 1,980 8,065,410 4,073 349,906 8,415,316 4,250 
			 2001/02 2,751 12,539,276 4,558 462,947 13,002,223 4,726 
			 2002/03 3,166 14,808,831 4,677 588,848 15,397,679 4,863 
			 2003/04 3,541 17,016,120 4,805 671,893 17,688,013 4,995 
			 2004/05 3,735 19,903,977 5,329 728,896 20,632,873 5,524 
			 2005/06 3,903 21,203,968 5,433 856,868 22,060,836 5,652 
			 2006/07 3,812 20,943,604 5,494 841,390 21,784,994 5,715 
			 2007/08 3,984 22,322,893 5,603 767,113 23,090,006 5,796 
			 (1) Includes nil award holders (European Union fees only students and students whose living allowance element of the bursary has been reduced to nil after income assessment). Phased uptake. Prior to 1997 local education authorities were primarily responsible for the administration of HE maintenance grants under Department for Education and Skills (mandatory awards) regulation to degree level students. From 1999 Student Bursaries became responsible for the payment of bursaries to new diploma level students, formally the responsibility of higher education institutions. (2) Includes the basic award and all supplementary allowances. Excludes one-off payments e.g. re-imbursement of practice placement costs. (3) Includes one-off payments e.g. disabled students allowance, reimbursement of practice placement costs etc.  Source: NHS Business Services Authority Student Bursaries Unit

Midwives

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Health pursuant to the answer of 26 June 2008,  Official Report, columns 513-4W, on midwives, how many live births per full-time equivalent NHS midwife there were in  (a) England and  (b) each region of England in 2007.

Ann Keen: The information will be available in December 2008.

Naomi House

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to assist Naomi House in recovering the funds it invested in Kaupthing, Singer and Friedlander Limited.

Ben Bradshaw: The investment of funds by charitable organisations are governed by investment and accountability rules set by the Charities Commission, and are beyond the scope of the Department.
	The Charity Commission has published guidance concerning the principles to be applied in the investment of charitable funds (its leaflet CC14) and has recently published guidance to charities concerning the Financial Compensation Scheme. Queries relating to charitable funds should be directed to the Charity Commission in the first instance.

Naomi House

Mark Oaten: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what funding his Department has provided to Naomi House in each of the last four years.

Ann Keen: The Department has provided Naomi House with payments under the Children's Hospice and Children's Hospice at Home scheme only for the past three years. Details of that funding is shown in the following table.
	
		
			  £ 
			 2006-07 330,000 
			 2007-08 300,000 
			 2008-09 317,475

NHS Foundation Trusts: Bank Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  what deposits foundation trusts held with commercial banks in the latest period for which figures are available;
	(2)  whether any foundation trusts have deposits in Icelandic banks.

Ben Bradshaw: I refer the hon. Member to my written ministerial statement issued on 14 October 2008,  Official Report, column 38-39WS.
	We have been advised by the Chairman of Monitor (the statutory name of which is the Independent Regulator of NHS foundation trusts) that as at 31 March 2008 the aggregated cash balances and investments of 89 NHS foundation trusts (authorised as at 31 March 2008) amounted to £2.3 billion. The cash and investment balance is broken down as follows:
	
		
			   £ million 
			 Cash at commercial banks and in hand 256.6 
			 Cash at Office of Paymaster General 1,636.8 
			 Investments 374

NHS Foundation Trusts: Bank Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what rules govern foundation trusts depositing funds other than with the Paymaster General.

Ben Bradshaw: National health service foundation trusts are autonomous organisations, free from central Government control. As high performing organisations, NHS Foundation Trusts have wide discretion to invest money. The boards of NHS Foundation Trusts are responsible for ensuring that surplus cash is invested in accordance with their duty to safeguard and properly account for the use of public money. Monitor, the independent regulator, has issued best practice guidance on how NHS Foundation Trusts should mange their cash. This guidance reflects prudent practice, and is designed to promote fiscal responsibility and prudent investments that do not compromise effective, efficient and economic delivery of services.

NHS: Bank Services

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what assessment he has made of the extent to which  (a) primary care trusts,  (b) strategic health authorities,  (c) NHS trusts,  (d) foundation trusts and  (e) the NHS bank hold deposits in commercial banks; what advice he has given to such NHS organisations on the exposure of such investments to bank collapse; and if he will make such a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The Department does not collect in-year data for the cash balances of commercial bank accounts held by strategic health authorities (SHAs), primary care trusts (PCTs), NHS trusts or NHS foundation trusts. However this information is reported at the end of the financial year and forms part of an NHS organisation's annual accounts.
	For indicative purposes, the following table shows the amount held on deposit in commercial banks or held as cash at the 31 March 2008.
	
		
			  Organisation type  Commercial cash at bank and in hand (£000s) 
			 Strategic health authorities 4 
			 Primary care trusts 6,790 
			 NHS trusts 10,113 
			 NHS foundation trusts 256,600 
		
	
	In general, the large majority of cash balances held by NHS organisations will be in Government bank accounts with HM Office of the Paymaster General, which all NHS organisations must hold.
	SHAs and PCTs may hold commercial bank accounts but in practice the large majority of cash balances of all SHAs and PCTs will be in Government bank accounts. In addition, SHAs and PCTs are discouraged from holding commercial bank accounts by applying a charge to any average cleared balance over £25,000.
	National health service trusts are able to hold commercial bank accounts but these are limited by legislation and in practice the large majority of balances for NHS trusts will be held in Government bank accounts.
	NHS foundation trusts are autonomous organisations, free from central Government control. As high performing organisations, NHS foundation trusts have wide discretion to invest money. The boards of NHS foundation trusts are responsible for ensuring that surplus cash is invested in accordance with their duty to safeguard and properly account for the use of public money. Monitor, the independent regulator, has issued best practice guidance on how NHS foundation trusts should mange their cash. This guidance reflects prudent practice, and is designed to promote fiscal responsibility and prudent investments that do not compromise effective, efficient and economic delivery of services.
	It should be noted the NHS Bank no longer exists.

NHS: Finance

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how much of the increase in the total NHS settlement for 2007-08 was spent on additional or increased salaries.

Ann Keen: The requested statistics are given in the table.
	
		
			  Proportion of the increase in the NHS expenditure on pay 
			  £ million 
			   Total NHS expenditure  Total pay bill 
			 2006-07 out-turn 80,561 35,312 
			 2007-08 estimated out-turn 89,217 36,685 
			 Increase 8,656 1,373 
			  Notes: 1. Total expenditure is calculated as the sum of revenue and capital expenditure net of non-trust depreciation and impairments. This is in line with HMT guidance. 2. Total pay bill comprises all NHS staff in England only and excludes agency; includes estimates for foundation trusts. 3. Pay bill figures are taken from final NHS financial returns for 2006-07. 4. The forecasts of pay for 2007-08 are consistent with those supplied as part of the written evidence to pay review bodies.

NHS: Finance

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will break down the NHS Settlement for 2007-08 as allocated to centrally-funded initiatives by main budget heading; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The requested information is contained in the Department of Health's departmental report 2008 in tables 9.18 and 9.19, page 160, which has been placed in the Library.

NHS: Finance

Norman Lamb: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether the budgets of NHS organisations have been top-sliced in 2008-09; whether the top-sliced amounts held by the strategic health authorities at the end of 2007-08 have been returned to the organisations; and if he will make a statement.

Ben Bradshaw: The 2008-09 national health service (NHS) operating framework confirms that strategic health authorities (SHAs) may agree arrangements with the primary care trusts (PCTs) in their area which allow the voluntary transfer and lodgement of revenue resources with the SHA, provided that such transfer is within the limit of the overall SHA planned surplus. The Department does not expect SHAs to require an involuntary top slice of PCT revenue allocations.
	Audited NHS accounts for 2007-08 report the net value of the top-sliced revenue resources transferred to, and paid back, by SHAs during the year, and the balance remaining with SHAs at the year-end. This information has already been placed in the Library.

NHS: Negligence

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many litigation cases were brought against his Department for clinical negligence in the latest period for which figures are available; and how much was paid out as a result.

Ann Keen: The Department has not received any litigation cases for clinical negligence. Claims of clinical negligence in the national health service are made against the NHS body providing the care.
	Of the 4,593 cases formally claimed in 2007-08, as of 30 September 2008, 2,262 have been settled, with £18,217,815 being paid out in damages, £2,272,334 in defence legal costs and £7,878,866 in claimant legal costs. The NHS Litigation Authority, which handles clinical negligence cases on behalf of member organisations, provided this information. The data do not include claims made against self-employed contractors in primary care.

NHS: Pay

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will take steps to raise pay levels for care workers in the NHS.

Ann Keen: NHS care workers are paid according to the Agenda for Change (AfC) system. The AfC pay system covers all directly employed NHS staff except doctors and dentists pay review body groups and very senior managers. A three-year pay deal for AfC staff is in place which provides a headline pay uplift of 2.75 per cent. for 2008-09—among the best increases in the public sector this year. The deal will be worth 2.54 per cent. in 2009-10 and 2.5 per cent. in 2010-11. These increases are in addition to year-on-year incremental increases for the vast majority of AfC staff.

NHS: Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps the Government has taken to improve the skills of non-medically trained NHS employees.

Ann Keen: The Department has worked with key stakeholders such as NHS Employers, Skills for Health and trade unions to develop education and career frameworks and to ensure effective use of the Joint Investment Fund that will provide up to £100 million per year of extra investment. This will be backed up by a doubling in investment in apprenticeships in the NHS.

NHS: Training

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent steps the Government has taken to improve the skills of NHS contracted staff.

Ann Keen: The Government expect that all staff possess the level of skills required to deliver high quality health care, irrespective of whether they are employed directly by the NHS or they have been contracted to deliver that service. This applies to clinical and non-clinical staff alike.

Nurses

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  if he will place in the Library a copy of each item of guidance his Department has issued to the NHS in the last 12 months on the modern matrons programme;
	(2)  what data his Department has gathered from NHS trusts to assess progress with the implementation of the modern matrons programme.

Ann Keen: Information about the number of modern matrons is collected centrally. This shows that there were 5,538 modern matrons in post on 6 June. No further information is collected centrally and no guidance has been issued in the last 12 months.

Organs: Donors

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health on what date he expects the report of the Organ Donation Taskforce on presumed consent to be published.

Ann Keen: The Organ Donation Taskforce is currently considering its findings on the potential impact on organ donation rates of introducing an opt out system of consent. It will shortly submit its report to UK Health Ministers for consideration after which the report will be published.

Patients: Transport

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what steps he has taken to improve the conditions under which critically ill patients are transferred between hospitals.

Ann Keen: Local health commissioners work with local hospitals, ambulance trusts and critical care networks to assess, commission and monitor the arrangements for transferring critically ill patients. We would expect that transfers follow relevant guidance from professional organisations, in particular the Intensive Care Society.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health 
	(1)  from what date prescription charges will be abolished for all patients with long-term conditions; how much he expects this measure to cost; and how many patients per annum he expects to benefit from it;
	(2)  when he plans to publish the conclusions of his Department's review into the prescription charging system in England.
	(3)  how much he expects abolishing prescription charges for cancer patients to cost; and from which budget this funding will be taken;
	(4)  how many cancer patients paid prescription charges in the latest year for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: The expected cost of exempting cancer patients in England from prescription charges is around £20 million a year. This will be funded from within our existing Comprehensive Spending Review settlement.
	We do not hold figures on how many cancer patients currently pay prescription charges however, we estimate this to be in the region of 250,000 people.

Prescriptions: Fees and Charges

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Health whether patients with long-term diseases will be eligible for free prescriptions under his recently announced proposals to extend eligibility for such prescriptions.

Ann Keen: As announced by my right hon. Friend the Secretary of State in his written ministerial statement to the House on 8 October 2008,  Official Report, column 17ws), we have asked Professor Ian Gilmore to lead a review of prescription charges on how to implement our plans to phase in free prescriptions for those people in England with long term conditions effectively. The Government estimate that a further five million people will be exempted from paying prescription charges at a cost of between £250-£350 million a year depending on the actual numbers of such patients and the timetable for implementing these changes.
	We expect to publish the findings of this review in summer 2009.

Social Services

Andrew Lansley: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what the evidential basis is for his Department's assertion that there is likely to be a £6 billion funding gap in social care in 20 years' time.

Phil Hope: This information is available on the Care, Support, Independence website at:
	www.careandsupport.direct.gov.uk/stakeholder-information
	The article on future funding requirements for adult social care has been placed in the Library.

Social Services: Finance

Alistair Burt: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what progress he is making in devising an independent complaints procedure for those who arrange and finance their own social care and who are currently excluded from other statutory complaints procedures.

Phil Hope: We will be seeking to legislate as soon as parliamentary time allows. In the meantime departmental officials are working with the local government ombudsman on the details of the proposed new arrangements whereby the ombudsman is given the power to handle complaints by people who fund or arrange their own adult social care services.

Tobacco

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what recent discussions he has had with representatives of the tobacco industry in the last 12 months.

Dawn Primarolo: During the last 12 months there have been a number of meetings between departmental officials and representatives of the tobacco industry.
	These meetings are technical in nature relating to compliance with the regulation of the industry at national, European and international levels.

Trauma Audit and Research Network

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of hospitals participate in the Trauma Audit and Research Network; and what steps he plans to take to increase the number of hospitals participating.

Ann Keen: The Trauma and Audit Research Network (TARN) is an independent organisation that is not funded directly by the Department, and as such the Department does not collect data on participation rates. TARN publishes a wide range of information about their work on their website, www.tarn.ac.uk. Further information can be obtained from TARN via:
	Professor Tim Coats (Chairman)
	Clinical Sciences Building
	Hope Hospital
	Eccles Old Road
	Salford
	M6 8HD
	(T) 0161 206 5952
	(E) support@tarn.ac.uk

Trauma: Children

Michael Penning: To ask the Secretary of State for Health what proportion of trauma cases involved children in the latest period for which figures are available.

Ann Keen: We are unable to supply the information requested as the definition of trauma is too wide to accurately supply data. Medically "trauma" can refer to any serious or critical bodily injury, wound or shock. In psychiatric terms a "trauma" may refer to an experience that is emotionally painful, distressing or shocking which often results in lasting mental and physical effects.

Wharfedale Hospital

Greg Mulholland: To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many patients Wharfedale Hospital in Leeds treated in each year since it opened in 2004.

Ann Keen: The information is not available as requested. Data on the count of hospital admissions to Leeds Teaching Hospitals NHS Trust, which includes the Wharfedale Hospital, from 2003-04 to 2006-07 is shown in the following table.
	
		
			   Total admissions 
			 2006-07 196,662 
			 2005-06 190,604 
			 2004-05 187,404 
			 2003-04 182,822 
			  Notes:  Finished admission episodes: A finished admission episode is the first period of inpatient care under one consultant within one health care provider. Finished admission episodes are counted against the year in which the admission episode finishes. Please note that admissions do not represent the number of inpatients, as a person may have more than one admission within the year. Data quality: HES are compiled from data sent by more than 300 NHS trusts and primary care trusts in England. Data is also received from a number of independent sector organisations for activity commissioned by the NHS in England. The NHS Information Centre for health and social care liaises closely with these organisations to encourage submission of complete and valid data and seeks to minimise inaccuracies and the effect of missing and invalid data via HES processes. While this brings about improvement over time, some shortcomings remain. Assessing growth through time: HES figures are available from 1989-90 onwards. During the years that these records have been collected by the NHS there have been on-going improvements in quality and coverage. These improvements in information submitted by the NHS have been particularly marked in the earlier years and need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. Some of the increase in figures for later years (particularly 2006-07 onwards) may be due to the improvement in the coverage of independent sector activity. Changes in NHS practice also need to be borne in mind when analysing time series. For example, a number of procedures may now be undertaken in outpatient settings and may no longer be accounted for in the HES data. This may account for any reductions in activity over time.  Source: Hospital Episode Statistics (HES), The Information Centre for health and social care: NHS Hospitals England and activity performed in the Independent Sector in England commissioned by English NHS.

DUCHY OF LANCASTER

Cervical Cancer

Fraser Kemp: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many women under the age of 25 years were diagnosed with cervical cancer in each of the last five years for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	.
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases (incidence) of cancer are for the year 2005. Numbers of cases of cervical cancer for the years 2001 to 2005 for England are given in Table 1 below.
	
		
			  Table 1: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of cervical cancer( 1)  under the age of 25 years, England, 2001-05 
			   Number 
			 2001 42 
			 2002 42 
			 2003 63 
			 2004 48 
			 2005 43 
			 (1)Cervical cancer is defined as code C53 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10).  Source: Office for National Statistics.

Colorectal Cancer

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) men and  (b) women were diagnosed with bowel cancer in each calendar year since 1997, broken down (i) by Government region and (ii) by those aged (A) under 30, (B) 30 to 40, (C) 41 to 50 and (D) 51 to 60 years.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking how many (a) men and (b) women were diagnosed with bowel cancer in each calendar year since 1997, broken down (i) by Government region and (ii) by those aged (A) under 30, (B) 30 to 40, (C) 41 to 50 and (D) 51 to 60 years.
	The latest available figures for newly diagnosed cases of cancer (incidence) are for the year 2005. Numbers of cases of bowel cancer for men and women in each calendar year since 1997, broken down (i) by Government office region and (ii) by age are given in Table 1 and Table 2 below. Ages are presented to be consistent with the standard age groups published by the Office for National Statistics (0-29, 30-39, 40-49, 50-59).
	
		
			  Table 1 :  Males: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of bowel cancer( 1)  by age in each Government office region, 1997  to  2005 
			  Government office region  Age  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 North East Under 30 2 0 4 3 1 1 0 0 0 
			  30-39 8 10 10 6 8 8 7 5 9 
			  40-49 38 37 47 29 35 36 24 38 35 
			  50-59 127 139 127 123 135 127 140 112 136 
			 North West Under 30 5 6 7 3 4 5 9 8 5 
			  30-39 21 16 22 9 24 11 25 24 26 
			  40-49 81 73 87 77 73 77 83 91 97 
			  50-59 276 296 301 318 309 288 305 322 304 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Under 30 3 8 2 3 I 0 5 5 4 
			  30-39 11 10 18 16 10 11 12 10 17 
			  40-49 64 62 68 59 47 62 61 61 67 
			  50-59 198 187 225 195 214 223 222 236 236 
			 East Midlands Under 30 2 1 2 1 3 0 4 1 7 
			  30-39 18 10 16 13 9 12 13 10 16 
			  40-49 35 47 48 46 57 39 35 61 57 
			  50-59 151 171 184 183 180 171 149 162 194 
			 West Midlands Under 30 4 8 3 2 3 4 7 4 5 
			  30-39 15 10 19 19 20 17 16 33 15 
			  40-49 75 52 53 54 52 77 66 60 51 
			  50-59 213 210 218 222 224 247 249 229 249 
			 East of England Under 30 3 4 2 3 0 0 3 6 6 
			  30-39 10 6 14 19 12 11 13 11 25 
			  40-49 57 55 50 44 37 45 63 54 73 
			  50-59 192 192 201 201 189 195 177 205 212 
			 London Under 30 7 6 6 6 8 7 8 10 9 
			  30-39 31 20 20 37 25 21 24 31 20 
			  40-49 75 76 66 52 60 64 73 60 79 
			  50-59 182 200 191 202 216 193 201 190 206 
			 South East Under 30 4 4 7 3 9 5 9 8 15 
			  30-39 21 18 21 23 18 18 22 22 17 
			  40-49 100 93 82 83 86 73 71 74 96 
			  50-59 275 305 273 312 291 308 282 280 318 
			 South West Under 30 3 2 3 3 3 11 5 6 6 
			  30-39 13 14 21 9 12 14 9 16 7 
			  40-49 61 48 48 48 50 66 57 61 45 
			  50-59 183 170 217 198 188 204 204 235 213 
			 (1) Bowel cancer is defined as codes C18-C20 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (ICD-10)   Source: Office for National Statistics. 
		
	
	
		
			  Table 2 :  Females: Registrations of newly diagnosed cases of bowel cancer( 1)  by age in each Government office region, 1997  to  2005 
			  Government office region  Age  1997  1998  1999  2000  2001  2002  2003  2004  2005 
			 North East Under 30 1 4 3 1 I 1 2 1 4 
			  30-39 4 4 2 10 9 3 7 6 8 
			  40-49 30 24 32 30 28 21 23 16 26 
			  50-59 57 72 63 81 74 78 72 74 83 
			 North West Under 30 9 10 2 8 5 5 8 3 8 
			  30-39 18 25 30 20 25 21 16 16 17 
			  40-49 67 63 77 65 61 49 60 69 72 
			  50-59 186 202 202 177 207 164 194 219 199 
			 Yorkshire and the Humber Under 30 0 3 5 5 0 3 2 1 2 
			  30-39 15 6 12 14 17 12 14 16 15 
			  40-49 49 37 54 49 55 41 45 47 47 
			  50-59 131 128 128 127 138 136 158 146 143 
			 East Midlands Under 30 2 1 3 4 1 4 7 2 2 
			  30-39 5 13 16 5 13 10 11 5 9 
			  40-49 49 40 24 47 34 39 47 51 38 
			  50-59 121 106 119 108 124 118 101 131 133 
			 West Midlands Under 30 1 2 1 2 5 5 3 5 3 
			  30-39 12 10 15 9 8 15 15 13 17 
			  40-49 53 62 54 53 47 57 50 47 55 
			  50-59 147 192 144 167 160 182 147 147 155 
			 East of England Under 30 8 2 2 2 3 3 2 6 1 
			  30-39 12 15 17 18 7 16 9 11 19 
			  40-49 44 41 53 43 51 41 42 34 62 
			  50-59 152 166 158 152 165 153 138 161 169 
			 London Under 30 2 5 5 8 6 11 8 11 11 
			  30-39 15 30 29 37 18 25 23 18 21 
			  40-49 52 51 50 62 58 72 65 61 65 
			  50-59 125 151 144 159 141 134. 142 150 144 
			 South East Under 30 4 12 6 9 8 4 9 10 9 
			  30-39 26 16 12 15 9 23 21 30 15 
			  40-49 83 48 79 58 84 84 71 76 84 
			  50-59 193 231 211 220 215 211 209 217 244 
			 South West Under 30 2 3 5 3 5 6 7 7 7 
			 . 30-39 8 14 12 15 13 10 10 12 11 
			  40-49 39 36 49 41 50 52 42 58 62 
			  50-59 137 138 172 145 156 158 168 162 141 
			 (1) Bowel cancer is defined as codes C18-C20 in the International Classification of Diseases, Tenth Revision (1CD-10).   Source: Office for National Statistics.

Departmental Press

Jacqui Lait: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster pursuant to the Answer to the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst of 2 July 2008,  Official Report, column 1003W, on departmental press, if he will  (a) estimate the cost of answering the Question and  (b) set out the cost assumptions on which that estimate is based.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested by the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) cannot be separately identified on the Cabinet Office's accounting system. To seek to identify the costs involved would require consulting individual budget holders across the Department who in turn would have to identify relevant expenditure in order to obtain a total for the Department. The Department estimates that the cost of obtaining this information would exceed the disproportionate cost threshold as stated by my hon. Friend the then Financial Secretary to the Treasury on 28 November 2006,  Official Report, column 87WS.

Drugs: Death

Norman Lamb: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many  (a) men and  (b) women died from drug misuse in each year since 1997.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many (a) men and (b) women died from drug misuse in each year since 1997. (227510)
	The table attached provides the numbers of deaths for which the underlying cause was drug poisoning, where any drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was mentioned on the death certificate, for (a) males and (b) females, from 1997 to 2007 (the latest year available).
	
		
			  Table 1 :  Number of deaths from drug misuse,( 1)  males and females, England and Wales,  1997 to 2007( 2, 3) 
			   Male  Female 
			 1997 1,041 271 
			 1998 1,142 315 
			 1999 1,321 307 
			 2000 1,329 275 
			 2001 1,450 356 
			 2002 1,269 344 
			 2003 1,118 314 
			 2004 1,177 318 
			 2005 1,260 348 
			 2006 1,250 323 
			 2007 1,287 317 
			 (1) Cause of death was defined using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision (ICD-9) for the years 1997 to 2000, and Tenth Revision (ICD-10) for 2001 onwards. Deaths were included where the underlying cause was due to drug poisoning (corresponding ICD-9 and ICD-10 codes are shown in the following table) and where a drug controlled under the Misuse of Drugs Act 1971 was mentioned on the death certificate. (2 )Figures include deaths of non-residents. (3 )Figures are for deaths registered in each calendar year. 
		
	
	
		
			  ICD-10  ICD-9  Description 
			 F11-F16, F18-F19 292, 304, 305.2-305.9 Mental and behavioural disorders due to drug use (excluding alcohol and tobacco) 
			 X40-X44 E850-E858 Accidental poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances 
			 X60-X64 E950.0-E950.5 Intentional self-poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances 
			 X85 E962.0 Assault by drugs, medicaments and biological substances 
			 Y10-Y14 E980.0-E980.5 Poisoning by drugs, medicaments and biological substances, undetermined intent

Employment

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what the employment rate was of  (a) people,  (b) UK citizens and  (c) UK-born people aged over 50 years old in (i) each year since 1997 and (ii) each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell,  dated  October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what the employment rate was of  (a) people aged over 50 years of working age  (b) UK citizens aged over 50 years of working age and  (c) UK-born people aged over 50 years of working age in (i) each year since 1997 and (ii) each of the last eight quarters for which figures are available. (225147)
	The attached table gives the employment rates of people aged between 50 and state pension age for the categories requested.
	The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. UK citizens are defined as those who report their nationality as UK at the time of the survey.
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	
		
			  Employment rates( 1)  for people aged between 50 and state pension age( 2)  United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Percentage 
			UK population  UK nationals  UK born 
			 1997 Q2 64.7 64.9 65.4 
			 1998 Q2 65.4 65.6 66.0 
			 1999 Q2 66.3 66.5 67.0 
			 2000 Q2 67.0 67.2 67.6 
			 2001 Q2 67.8 68.1 68.5 
			 2002 Q2 68.1 68.4 68.8 
			 2003 Q2 70.2 70.3 70.7 
			 2004 Q2 69.9 70.1 70.5 
			 2005 Q2 70.5 70.6 71.0 
			 2006 Q2 70.9 71.0 71.4 
			 2006 Q3 70.8 71.0 71.5 
			 2006 Q4 70.8 71.0 71.5 
			 2007 Q1 70.7 70.9 71.4 
			 2007 Q2 71.3 71.6 72.0 
			 2007 Q3 71.3 71.6 71.9 
			 2007 Q4 72.0 72.2 72.6 
			 2008 Q1 72.0 72.1 72.6 
			 2008 Q2 72.1 72.3 72.7 
			 (1) The employment rate is the number of people in employment as a percentage of the total number in the relevant group. (2) Men aged 50-64 and women aged 50-59.  Note:  It should be noted that the estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishments (e.g. hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.)  Source:  Labour Force Survey.

Employment

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what proportion of the increase in the employment of people of working age since 1997 was accounted for by  (a) foreign nationals and  (b) workers born abroad.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 13 October 2008
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking what proportion of the increase in the employment of people of working age since 1997 was accounted for by (a) foreign nationals and (b) workers born abroad. (226634)
	Between April-June 1997 and April-June 2008, foreign nationals accounted for 52 per cent of the increase in the employment of people of working age (men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59). The corresponding figure for workers born abroad was 67 per cent.
	Foreign nationals are defined as those who report their nationality as non-UK at the time of the survey.
	The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.

Employment

James Clappison: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how many people in employment in the UK were  (a) UK citizens,  (b) citizens of other EU states and  (c) citizens of non EU states in each year since 1978.

Kevin Brennan: holding answer 13 October 2008
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell,  dated  October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking how many people in employment in the UK were  (a) UK citizens,  (b) citizens of other EU states and  (c) citizens of non EU states in each year since 1978. (226635)
	The attached table gives the number of people in employment for the categories requested, from April-June 1995 to April-June 2008. Comparable data prior to 1995 are not available. The table excludes those whose nationality is not known.
	Citizenship is defined as the nationality reported by respondents at the time of the survey.
	The estimates are derived from the Labour Force Survey. As with any sample survey, estimates from the LFS are subject to a margin of uncertainty.
	The figures in the table are derived from the LFS microdata which are weighted using the official population estimates published in autumn 2007. They are not entirely consistent with the figures published in the monthly Labour Market Statistics First Release which are weighted using more up-to-date population estimates.
	
		
			  Employment levels for people aged 16 and over, by nationality , t hree months ending April to June, 1995 to 2008 ,  United Kingdom, not seasonally adjusted 
			  Thousand 
			   UK  Other EU( 1)  401  Non-EU 
			 1995 24,840  470 
			 1996 25,074 397 473 
			 1997 25,478 419 547 
			 1998 25,576 465 600 
			 1999 26,002 452 569 
			 2000 26,256 461 682 
			 2001 26,427 489 725 
			 2002 26,554 480 816 
			 2003 26,741 518 873 
			 2004(2) 26,860 581 922 
			 2005 27,058 642 963 
			 2006 27,050 732 1,144 
			 2007(3) 26,949 989 1,154 
			 2008(4) 27,167 * 1,085 * 1,219 * 
			 (1) Men aged 16-64 and women aged 16-59. (2) EU14 comprises Austria, Belgium, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Luxembourg, Netherlands, Portugal, Spain and Sweden. (3) A8 comprises Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. (4) Rest of world excludes UK, EU14 and A8. (5) Coefficients of Variation have been calculated for the latest period as an indication of the quality of the estimates, as described as follows:  Guide to Quality: The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the quality of an estimate, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality. The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an estimate of 200 with a CV of 5 per cent. we would expect the population total to be within the range 180-220.  Key Coefficient of Variation (CV) (%) Statistical Robustness * 0 < CV< 5 Estimates are considered precise ** 5 < CV < 10 Estimates are considered reasonably precise *** 10 < CV < 20 Estimates are considered acceptable **** CV ≥ 20 Estimates are considered too unreliable for practical purposes  Note:  It should be noted that the above estimates exclude people in most types of communal establishment (eg hotels, boarding houses, hostels, mobile home sites etc.)  Source: Labour Force Survey.

Government Departments: Annual Reports

David Amess: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what consideration he has given to producing a Whole of Government annual report; what recent representations he has received on this issue; and if he will make a statement.

Kevin Brennan: There are no such plans at present.

Inter-departmental Migration Task Force

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster which Minister is responsible for the delivery of the workplan of the Inter-departmental Migration Task Force.

Kevin Brennan: The National Statistician is responsible for the delivery of the Migration Statistics Improvement Programme, which is taking forward the delivery of the Interdepartmental Migration Task Force workplan. A ministerial group co-chaired by my hon. Friend the Member for Wentworth (John Healey), Minister for Local Government and my hon. Friend the Member for Oldham, East and Saddleworth (Mr. Woolas), Minister for Borders and Immigration, monitors and provides ministerial support for the programme.

Migration: Statistics

Simon Hughes: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster what consultation by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) undertook with Government departments before the ONS's revised methodology for allocating international migrants to regions and local authority areas was published on 24 April 2007.

Kevin Brennan: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October 2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question concerning what consultation the Office for National Statistics had with Government departments before the Office's revised methodology for allocating international migrants to regions and local authority areas was published. (227234)
	Over a significant period of time prior to implementation, ONS officials had regular discussions with the key Departmental users of population and migration statistics, specifically:
	The Department for Communities and Local Government, given their role with local grant funding;
	The Department of Health, including representation on the Technical Advisory Group (TAG) of the Advisory Committee for Resource Allocation (ACRA); and
	The devolved administrations.
	Also, at each stage in the development and implementation of the improved methodology, we kept government departments, local authorities and other users informed. Papers were submitted for discussion at the regular meetings held with the population sub-group of Central and Local Information Partnership (CLIP). Membership of CLIP includes representatives from Government departments, as well as from local government. The proposed new methodology was first discussed by CLIP in April 2006 prior to the announcement, in August 2006, of plans to implement the revised methods and the publication of indicative figures and explanatory papers in April 2007. Presentations of the methods were made at conferences and seminars, in particular British Society of Population Studies.
	ONS is now leading a cross-departmental programme of work to improve migration and population statistics that has been in place since April 2008. We liaise closely with other government departments who are members of a steering group overseeing this work. The Local Government Association is also represented on the steering group.
	Through this, a series of working groups that meet regularly, seminars and workshops that are arranged to engage local stakeholders, ONS continues to liaise closely with central and local Government on the improving migration statistics programme.

Office of the Third Sector: Operating Costs

Bernard Jenkin: To ask the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster how much it cost to run the Office of the Third Sector in 2007-08.

Kevin Brennan: The administration costs for the financial year 2007-08 of the Office of the Third Sector are published as part of the Cabinet Office Annual Report and Accounts 2007-08. Copies are available in the Library of the House.

INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND SKILLS

Higher Education: Blackpool

Joan Humble: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the proposals to expand higher education provision in Blackpool.

David Lammy: Blackpool is one of the areas which will benefit from our new "university challenge" policy to expand locally accessible higher education. As a result of previous decisions taken by the Higher Education Funding Council for England and other funders, there will be new opportunities through the establishment of a higher education centre supported by the University of Lancaster. I would like to wish the centre and others like it every success in their efforts to unlock the talent of the people and places they serve.

Further and Higher Education

Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what recent steps the Government have taken to increase the numbers of students in further and higher education.

David Lammy: Government spending on higher education has increased by 24 per cent. in real terms from 1997-98 to 2008-09 to more than £8 billion a year. A record 1,156,000 places are funded in 2008-09. So far, acceptances for 2008 entry show a rise of 7 per cent. on 2007 Planned further education spending on adult skills will increase from £4.8 billion in 2007-08 to £5.3 billion by 2010-11. This will support around three million funded adult learners per year. To date, we have exceeded our Skills for Life target for 2010, and increased the number of adults in the work force qualified to level 2 to 2.1 million compared with 2001.

Further and Higher Education

Andrew Turner: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many higher education students are studying in further education colleges.

Si�n Simon: The latest available figures show that in 2006-07, there were (provisionally) around 131,000 students studying for a higher education qualification in a further education college in England.
	Final figures for 2006-07 will be available early next year.

Further and Higher Education

Andrew Gwynne: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps he is taking to ensure further education college courses meet the needs of employers.

Si�n Simon: FE colleges play a valuable role in delivering Train to Gain and Apprenticeships programmes, responding to the needs of employers to ensure their employees have the skills they need to remain competitive. We are investing 18 million pounds through the World Class Skills Programme to help FE colleges to help them respond to employer demand. The Training Quality Standard for Employer Responsiveness and the National Skills Academies will also strengthen colleges' ability in this area.

Construction Industry

Henry Bellingham: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he next expects to meet representatives of the construction industry to discuss skills levels in that industry.

Si�n Simon: Ministers in this Department are in regular touch with representatives of the construction industry about skills levels in the industry, both about immediate issues like sustaining apprenticeships, and about longer term skills needs. These meetings will continue.

Research and Development: Universities

Andy Reed: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what support his Department has given to collaborative public-private research and development programmes in universities; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: According to the HEBCI survey in 2008, university income from external sources is at an unprecedented level, currently 2.6 billion per annum. The Government support public-private research collaborations through the Higher Education Innovation Fund, which will give 396 million to support knowledge transfer over the three years of the current round, the Technology Strategy Board and all seven of the Research Councils. For example, EPSRC spends 40 per cent. of its budget on collaborative research.

Apprenticeships

Jim Devine: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government plan to take to ensure that apprentices do not lose their jobs in the current economic situation.

Si�n Simon: To help apprentices through the current economic situation, we have set up a clearing house for construction apprentices which has already placed two-thirds of those referred with a new employer or training provider.
	We will examine urgently whether this model can be developed in other sectors. And we will look at additional ways of providing apprenticeships, including the employment of apprentices by Group Training Associations; and giving the best employers support to train more apprentices than they themselves need in order to equip smaller companies in their supply chain.

Apprenticeships

Tony Lloyd: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what funding his Department is providing to support apprenticeships in the construction trades in 2008-09.

Si�n Simon: Funding for apprenticeships is planned to increase by almost a quarter between 2007-08 and 2010-11, to over 1.1 billion. We do not allocate funds on a sectoral basis. We are concerned about the position of apprentices in the construction industry and just a few weeks ago, my right hon. Friend announced a new taskforce with major employers and unions to explore how we expand construction apprenticeships and improve training opportunities. We also announced the creation of a clearing house to match redundant construction apprentices with employers in their region to enable them to finish their training.

Apprenticeships

Anne Moffat: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government are taking to ensure that young people are aware of available apprenticeship opportunities.

Si�n Simon: The current Education and Skills Bill requires schools to provide impartial careers education. Information about apprenticeships is included in 14-19 area prospectuses. We are also building a new apprenticeships national vacancy matching service which will enable employers to advertise vacancies for young people wanting apprenticeships to consider the opportunities and make application online.
	The Apprenticeships Draft Bill contains provision to ensure that schools inform young people about apprenticeships. We are also examining whether it is possible to achieve this outcome without primary legislation through other mechanisms such as statutory guidance.

Small Businesses

Ann Winterton: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps the Government are taking to improve the skills training available to employees of small businesses.

Si�n Simon: The Government are investing significant funding through the Train to Gain programme, which by 2010-11 will rise to over 1 billion a year. 61 per cent. of learners that accessed a Train to Gain funded course in 2006/07 were employed by employers of up to 250 employees.
	In addition, the leadership and management programme for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Train to Gain supported over 2,400 employers in 2007/08. We are increasing investment in this programme to 30 million per year for the next three years and have widened eligibility to cover organisations with between 10 and 250 employees.
	We will ensure that the support that we provide for all businesses is fit for purpose in the current economic climate, and will be setting out measures for that shortly.

Skills Needs

David Kidney: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will publish regular forecasts of the future skills needs of the economy by sector.

Si�n Simon: The UK Commission for Employment and Skills, which started work in April, is working to ensure thatthrough its annual skills assessment and regular skills projectionswe continue to improve the information available to Government and employers about future skills needs.

Toilet Facilities: Universities

Peter Bone: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will hold discussions with university authorities on the provision of toilet facilities in universities.

David Lammy: We have no plans for any specific discussions with university authorities on this subject. Universities are independent and autonomous bodies and how they choose to designate their facilities is a matter for them.

Student Finance

David Evennett: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills if he will review the funding available to students working towards an equivalent or lower qualification.

David Lammy: Student support is generally targeted at first time entrants to higher education because the Government believe it is right to give priority for public funding to those without an HE qualification. Our policy on equivalent level qualification is consistent with this view. But it provides extra support for institutions teaching existing students, and for subjects of strategic importance; and there are more general opportunities for equivalent and lower level students to study courses which attract institutional funding such as foundation degrees and employer co-funded provision.

Apprentices: Small Businesses

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps his Department is taking to encourage small and medium-sized enterprises to offer apprenticeships.

Si�n Simon: There are a number of proposals in 'World-class Apprenticeships' aimed at supporting and encouraging small and medium-sized business to take on apprentices.
	These included the recently launched sector growth pilots. These pilots are designed to trial a range of support including wage and training subsidies and while this is not exclusively for small businesses, they will be encouraged to bid for this funding. We are also developing proposals set out in World Class Apprenticeships to support SMEs to form their own group training associations to support the delivery of apprenticeships.
	We are committed to revising the current apprenticeship blueprint and to support Sector Skills Councils to develop Apprenticeship frameworks to be more flexible and responsive. This includes work with employers to encourage and enable them to submit their own frameworks for funding, by drawing from a Sector Skills Council 'bank' of qualifications.
	We are also working with the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, who recently surveyed SMEs to establish how the new National Apprenticeship Service can meet better the needs of employers. The survey focused on, although was not limited to, reducing the administrative burden on them. Together we will consider how best to take forward the recommendations coming out of the survey.

Arts: Finance

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills when he expects his Department to publish research quantifying the economic benefits of the creative industries.

David Lammy: The commitment in Creative Britain: New Talents for the New Economy to establish the contribution of innovation to value added in the creative industries is being taken forward jointly by DIUS and DCMS.
	A research project to look at how value is generated in creative industries and how they might spread value to other parts of the economy is now under way.
	We expect to publish a report on the research findings in spring 2009.

Departmental Marketing

David Simpson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of the cost effectiveness of Government-commissioned advertising in the last 12 months relating to matters falling within the remit of his Department.

David Lammy: All DIUS commissioned advertising is assessed for cost effectiveness by pre and post tracking research that measures the situation or issue before and after the advertising has run. All advertising campaigns are commissioned through the Central Office of Information (COI) to ensure the quality of the media planning and to exploit the bulk media discounts that COI negotiate with media owners.

Departmental Press

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills which organisations provided media monitoring services to  (a) his Department,  (b) its agencies and  (c) its non-departmental public bodies in each of the last three years; and what the total cost was of each contract.

Si�n Simon: The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills' (DIUS) media monitoring is supplied by Energy Data Service Ltd. (EDS) and the Media Monitoring Unit (MMU).
	DIUS was formed on 28 June 2007 as a result of the machinery of government changes. Information on the costs of contracts for the provision of media monitoring services to DIUS is therefore only available for the current financial year.
	Available figures for the annual costs of each contract are as follows:
	 EDS
	2008/09: 26,269 (to date)
	 MMU
	2008/09: 42,125 (annual subscription)
	For much of its business, the Department operates through a number of arms length bodies including 20 non-departmental public bodies and other agencies. It is the responsibility of each body to manage its contracts and costs. Therefore the Department does not hold the information requested centrally and there would be a disproportionate cost to gather the information requested.

Higher Education

Philip Hollobone: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many expressions of interest have been made to the Higher Education Funding Council for England for new higher education centres under the Department's University Challenge initiative; and what the timetable is for assessing such bids.

David Lammy: The Higher Education Funding Council for England is still in the process of analysing the responses to its consultation paper on our new University Challenge policy. After the consultation period ends, the council will conclude that analysis, which will also cover any expressions of interest. However, the consultation document made clear that there is not a fixed bidding timetable. Rather, HEFCE can receive proposals at any time, and there is an ongoing approval process. The council's regional teams are already working with a number of institutions in the early stages of developing proposals. Local authorities and other bodies which wish to be involved with the development of new HE centres will need to develop links with a local educational partner and at least one higher education institution.

Higher Education: Finance

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what funding streams are available to universities on application to  (a) his Department and  (b) the Higher Education Funding Council for England.

David Lammy: The Department does not make payments directly to universities and so there are no such funding streams.
	The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) makes the great majority of its payments to universities in the form of block grant.
	In addition to this funding it currently operates the following special funding streams: the Strategic Development Fund, which supports individual projects to achieve change in the HE sector at a strategic level, such as lifelong learning networks, New University Challenge developments, and inter-university collaborations; the Leadership, Governance and Management Fund, which supports staff development across the HE sector; the Revolving Green Fund, which supports initiatives to bear down on carbon emissions on a spend-to-save basis; and the Shared Services Feasibility Studies, which delivers efficiency gains in the HE sector via the use of shared services.
	HEFCE will also be making the payments to institutions under the Government's scheme to promote voluntary giving to universities, in which we have made available 200 million to match-fund private donations worth at least 400 million

Higher Education: Teachers

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many university lecturers have left the profession in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: Neither the Department nor the Higher Education Funding Council for England collects this data.

Innovation: Public Sector

Andrew Rosindell: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what assessment he has made of recent trends in innovation in the public sector; and if he will make a statement.

David Lammy: In November DIUS will publish the first annual innovation report which will include examples of public sector innovation from across Government. Work is ongoing to develop better metrics for innovation, including in the public sector and these will be used to assess performance and trends in future reports. In early 2009 the NAO will publish a report on how Government are currently managing public sector innovation with a set of recommendations.

Science

Andrew Slaughter: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what steps his Department plans to take to increase public interest in science.

David Lammy: DIUS manages a portfolio of funded activities to support our ongoing commitment to public engagement in science. These include: National Science and Engineering Week, the BA festival of science, the Sciencewise-Expert Resource Centre for public dialogue, STEMNET and the UK Resource Centre for Women.
	DIUS is currently consulting on a vision for science and society with a key element focused on increasing public interest in science. The consultation closes on October 17.

Students: Loans

Robert Wilson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills how many and what proportion of students who applied for a student loan received it after the agreed date in each of the last five years.

David Lammy: The first payments of income-contingent student loans are made after the university or college confirms that the student is in attendance. On current performance, the Student Loans Company (SLC) then initiates payment within one working day of receipt of the confirmation in all cases. Payments are made through an automated system into bank accounts, which takes three working days from initiation.
	A payment may be made after the start of the course if the student's application has been received late and did not allow sufficient time for processing. A change in student's circumstances can also affect payment where re-assessment is required.
	SLC monitors payment performance against a target set in a service level agreement with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills, and reported in the SLC Annual Report. The target is for 95 per cent. or more of payments to be initiated within one working day of confirmation of attendance, and 99 per cent. within two days. In 2007-08 100 per cent. were initiated within one working day.
	The following table shows performance given in the annual reports. The target has changed over the years.
	
		
			   Measure  Target (percentage)  Actual performance (percentage) 
			 2007-08 Initiated in 1 working day 95 100 
			  Initiated in 2 working days 99 100 
			 
			 2006-07 Initiated in 1 working day 95 98.2 
			  Initiated in 2 working days 99 100 
			 
			 2005-06 Initiated within month 99 99.4 
			 
			 2004/05 academic year Loans paid 1-14 days 90 94.9 
			  Loans paid 1-17 days 100 95.4 
			 
			 2003/04 academic year Loans paid 1-14 days 90 91.9 
			  Loans paid 1-17 days 100 94.7

Union Learning Representatives Programme

Sharon Hodgson: To ask the Secretary of State for Innovation, Universities and Skills what plans he has to promote and develop the union learning representatives programme.

Si�n Simon: Union learning representatives have a key role to play in raising the demand for learning and skills, especially for workers with low skill levels and those with literacy and numeracy problems. With their real-life experience and credibility in the workplace, union learning reps inspire trust and foster ambition in others, giving them the confidence to seek new ways to improve their skills.
	That is why we will continue to support the Union Learning Fund and unionlearn, the TUC's learning and skills organisation, to develop and promote the work of union learning reps. We have increased the funding for union learning from 2 million in 1998 to over 21 million in 2008so that by 2010 there will be 22,000 trained union learning reps helping over 250,000 workers into learning each year.

ENVIRONMENT FOOD AND RURAL AFFAIRS

Birds: Hunting

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what the Government's policy on bird rearing and shooting is; when that policy was introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The Government's policies towards the game bird industry are consistent with the 2005 rural manifesto which stated that
	We will work with the relevant bodies to ensure that country sports are protected while ensuring high standards of environment protection, animal welfare and safety.
	We have no plans to restrict the sport of shooting.
	Game birds reared for sporting purposes are covered by the Animal Welfare Act 2006. This Act makes it an offence to cause unnecessary suffering to an animal, and also contains a duty of care so that people responsible for an animal must take such steps as are reasonable to ensure its welfare.

Disabled

Mark Harper: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs 
	(1)  how many and what proportion of staff in  (a) his Department and  (b) the executive agencies for which he is responsible are disabled; and what the average salary in his (i) Department and (ii) executive agencies is of (A) full-time disabled staff, (B) full-time non-disabled staff, (C) part-time disabled staff and (D) part-time non-disabled staff;
	(2)  when he will reply to Question 220188, on staff, tabled on 15 July.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given to him on 8 October 2008,  Official Report, columns 551-657W.

New Forest: Environment Protection

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the draft New Forest Recreation Management Strategy, if he will publish the evidence upon which the New Forest National Park Authority concludes that many people who live locally and use the New Forest take its tranquillity and high environmental quality for granted.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I understand that the New Forest National Park Authority's evidence for this is already in the public domain, in the form of the following publications:
	Survey of Recreation Visits to the New Forest National Park by Tourism South East with Geoff Broom Associates, prepared on behalf of the Countryside Agency in September 2005;
	Interim statement of the special qualities for the New Forest National Park, paper number NFNPA 92 06, presented to the National Park Authority on 18 May 2006;
	Future Matters consultationa joint consultation between New Forest District Council, Changing Lives Partnership (the Local Strategic Partnership) and the National Park Authority, which took place in December 2006;
	Statement of special qualities for the New Forest National Park, paper number NFNPA 191 07 presented to the National Park Authority on 28 June 2007.

New Forest: Environment Protection

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which consultants were employed by the New Forest National Park Authority to advise on the draft New Forest Recreation Management Strategy; whether the process of appointment was subject to competitive tender; and if he will place a copy of the terms of reference given to the consultants in the Library.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I understand that the consultants employed were 'Land Use Consultants', based in Bristol and that the contract for this work was subject to competitive tender. I will arrange for a copy of the invitation to tender and the specification for the development of the National Park Plan and the Recreation Management Strategy to be placed in the Library.

Hill Farming

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many letters he has received on the Uplands Entry Level Scheme; and how many of those opposed its introduction.

Huw Irranca-Davies: We received 48 letters responding to our informal document on Uplands Entry Level Scheme (Uplands ELS), which was published shortly after the Secretary of State's statement in July confirming that an uplands strand of the Entry Level Stewardship scheme would replace the Hill Farm Allowance in 2010. This document sought views on specific design aspects of Uplands ELS, and so did not solicit views on support or opposition for its introduction. A summary of the responses received, together with the outcome of regional meetings with stakeholders on Uplands ELS, will be published shortly.

Horses: New Forest

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs with reference to the draft New Forest Recreation Management Strategy, if he will publish the evidence justifying the proposed policy of the New Forest National Park Authority that the use of horses for recreation in the New Forest needs to be restricted.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I understand there is no proposed policy to restrict the use of horses in the New Forest and there is unrestricted access for horses on the Open Forest.
	The New Forest National Park Authority has published a number of policies and proposals in its draft Recreation Management Strategy and draft National Park Plan that are the subject of a public consultation until 14 November 2008. All interested parties are free to make their views known to the Authority and to have those views fully considered.
	Decisions on these issues are for the Authority to take. It is an independent Authority operating within the local government framework and legislation.

Ivory

Norman Baker: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what his policy is on the decision to make available to China stockpiled ivory for onward sale; and what assessment he has made of the potential effect of this decision on elephant populations.

Huw Irranca-Davies: At the Standing Committee of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) in July, the UK voted to approve China as a trading partner in the one-off sale of legal ivory held by four southern African nations. The UK and Bulgaria reflected the combined EU position, which was reached based on evidence that China had fulfilled the strict conditions for trading partner status as laid down in the Annotations to the CITES Appendices and agreed by CITES Parties.
	The UK is supporting two programmes (Monitoring the Illegal Killing of Elephants (MIKE) and the Elephant Trade Information System (ETIS)) which will monitor the effect of the sale on illegal poaching and trade, and is represented on the Steering Group monitoring their work.

National Forest Estate

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what plans he has for a repositioning exercise of the National Forest Estate to better deliver public policy objectives.

Huw Irranca-Davies: We have no current plans to reposition the public forest estate. Any significant repositioning would require a full appraisal of the estate in the light of the new Strategy for England's Trees Woods and Forests, published last year, and the Delivery Plan, which has been prepared by the Forestry Commission and Natural England and is due for publication soon.

National Forest Estate

Elliot Morley: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what criteria are used on the National Forest Estate for the identification of sites for disposal, retention and purchase.

Huw Irranca-Davies: Assets (woodlands and other property) that are making a relatively limited contribution to our forestry policy objectives and where there are limited public benefits are sold. The resulting funds are reinvested in forestry policy priorities such as community woodlands around our cities, improved recreation facilities and habitat restoration. This reinvestment is often made in projects where there is additional support and funding from partners.
	Land purchases occur where opportunities arise to enable the Forestry Commission to secure high levels of public benefit. For example, the purchase of freeholds that will increase public access or the creation of new community woodlands close to where people live.

National Rights of Way Casework Team

Gordon Banks: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many representations the National Rights of Way Casework Team has received since its inception; what the  (a) longest,  (b) shortest and  (c) average period between the receipt of a representation and the issue of a decision on that representation has been; how many decisions have been issued more than 12 months from the date of receipt of the representations; and what the longest time is a representation has remained without the issue of a decision.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The National Rights of Way Casework Team has received 71 representations (direction requests) since its inception. The requested information on representation handling times can be provided only by reviewing all the 71 case files and therefore can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Olympic Games 2012

Don Foster: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs whether any full-time equivalent members of staff in his Department are working on projects relating to the London 2012 Olympics and Paralympics Games.

Huw Irranca-Davies: My Department is currently applying less than one full-time equivalent member of staff to our work on legacy planning for 2012. This input is expected to rise over the coming years. Staff at the Environment Agency and Natural England are also involved in work related to the Games.

New Forest: Parking

Christopher Chope: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs which car parks under the control of the New Forest National Park Authority are being considered for designation as dog-free car parks; and what evidence there is to justify such a designation in each case.

Huw Irranca-Davies: I understand that the New Forest national park authority does not control any car parks in the New Forest. If the concept of 'dog free' car parks is developed it would be implemented by the landowner or operator, as has been the case where the Forestry Commission has introduced a few temporary closures during the breeding season for ground nesting birds.
	The authority has published a number of proposals in its draft Recreation Management Strategy, including on the issue of dog-free car parks and responsible dog-walking, that are the subject of a public consultation until 14 November 2008. All interested parties are free to make their views known to the authority and to have those views fully considered.
	Decisions on these issues are for the authority to take. It is an independent authority operating within the local government framework and legislation.

Postal Services

Mark Hoban: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department has taken to monitor the cost of its mail services in the last 12 months.

Hilary Benn: The core Department's supplier of postal services is Royal Mail. In financial year 2007-08, and from information held centrally, the Department incurred costs of some 4.89 million with Royal Mail.
	This compares with 5.21 million for the financial year 2006-07. On figures to date for financial year 2008-09, annual expenditure with Royal Mail will total a little over 4 milliona further substantial reduction in expenditure obtained though efficiencies and commercial discussions.
	Postal services from Royal Mail attract mailsort, postal and volume discounts.
	DEFRA's policy is to reduce the number of printed publications, especially leaflets that are produced and posted to stakeholders.

Primates: Pets

Kerry McCarthy: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs how many illegally held pet primates have been seized in each year since 2000; and where such seized primates were subsequently kept.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The enforcement and administration of the Dangerous Wild Animals Act 1976 is a matter for local authorities. Central records are not kept on seizures of illegally held pet primates.

Trapping

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for what reason the Government awarded the contract for research into the safety and efficacy of the use of snares to the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The research contract was awarded to the Central Science Laboratory (CSL) and the Game and Wildlife Conservation Trust with CSL as the lead partner. The two organisations successfully bid for the contract in response to an advertised open competition. The bid from these contractors was considered to offer the best value for money and provide the best solution. This conclusion was reached with the help of independent reviewers who are experts in relevant fields.

Trapping

David Drew: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs if he will publish the  (a) terms of reference and  (b) contract details relating to the proposed arrangement between the Game and Wildlife Trust and his Department on research into the use of snares.

Huw Irranca-Davies: The terms of reference for the research were advertised in the form of a research specification for an open competition. The specification will be placed in the House Library.
	Details of the contract will also be placed in the House Library.

Warm Front Scheme

Andrew George: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what steps his Department takes to ensure that householders are invoiced separately for the parts, labour, travel and management fees associated with Warm Front Scheme work undertaken for them.

Joan Ruddock: I have been asked to reply.
	In order to avoid potential confusion, Warm Front customers are only invoiced for the costs of works required that exceed the grant maxima (2,700 for gas heating and 4,000 for oil). Currently, contribution letters provide customers with the costs of any previous Warm Front measures to the property (which are deducted from the new grant), installer labour costs (harmonised by region) and costs for any required materials (set centrally across the country).
	As regards travel expenses, individual jobs do not attract different charges depending on their distance from the contractor.
	The scheme's management fees are not taken from the grants of individual Warm Front customers, but rather from the central grant fund made available to the scheme.

CHILDREN, SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES

Academies: Finance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families if he will make a statement on the level of start-up funding in academies compared with Fresh Start schools.

Jim Knight: Start-up grants for academies are designed to enable a new bodythe academy trustto effect a complete educational transformation for the pupils. To this end, start-up grant provides for substantial new resources in terms of books, equipment and materials. If the academy is not full, start-up grant also helps meet the overhead costs of the senior and middle management teams, so that these can be of a size and quality to carry through that transformation, and various transitional costs during the period in which new buildings are being constructed. It also meets necessary expenditure on transforming the ethos of an academy such as uniform and induction costs. The length of time over which start-up grant is payable depends on the rate of pupil build-up and building completion.
	The level of start-up grant for academies is therefore, in most cases, substantially higher than that for a Fresh Start school, which has a more limited purpose. Giving poorly performing schools a Fresh Start can be a very successful way to raise standards. In some cases, this may be the appropriate short-term action, prior to a long term solution such as an Academy or a Trust. Giving a school a fresh start means closing and reopening it on the same site under the normal school reorganisation procedures. Schools requiring a Fresh Start are allocated revenue and capital funding on the basis of need based on the size and phase of the school. Capital resources to support a Fresh Start of a school will involve either a re-build of the school or development of suitable teaching facilities needed at neighbouring school to enable closure of the school needing a fresh start.

Academies: Governing Bodies

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what his policy is on the  (a) number and  (b) proportion of governors on the governing body of an academy who (i) represent and (ii) are appointed by the principal sponsor; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: There are variations in the overall number of governors of Academies. However the sponsors of an Academy (excluding the LA, where the LA is a co-sponsor) must appoint a majority of the Governing Body members. If there are non-LA Co-Sponsors as well as Lead Sponsors the Lead Sponsor will appoint at least one more Governor than the non-LA Co-sponsor. If an Academy is to be jointly sponsored, both sponsors will appoint the same number of Governors but collectively appoint a majority.

Departmental Public Participation

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many consultations were completed by his Department in each year since 1997.

Sarah McCarthy-Fry: The figures for DCSF and its predecessors the Department for Education and Employment and Department for Education and Skills are as follows:
	
		
			   Consultations completed 
			 1997 (from 1 August) 2 
			 1998 3 
			 1999 3 
			 2000 28 
			 2001 63 
			 2002 34 
			 2003 40 
			 2004 35 
			 2005 56 
			 2006 30 
			 2007 67 
			 2008 (to date) 37

Education Maintenance Allowance

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what the total cost was of the bonuses paid through the education maintenance allowance for submitting course work on time in the latest period for which figures are available; when the bonus was introduced; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and hold information about payments made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member for Yeovil with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library. EMA bonuses were included in the pilots and have been an integral part of the scheme since its beginning in 1999.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 15 October 2008:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questions that asked; what the total cost was of the bonuses paid through the Education Maintenance Allowance for submitting course work on time in the latest period for which figures are available; when the bonus was introduced and how many local authorities allow people enrolled on an entry to employment programme to apply for education maintenance allowance online; what assessment has been made of the effectiveness of the online application process.
	The total Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) bonus payments paid out during the academic year 2007/8 amounted to 68.2m. Bonus payments are paid based on an agreement between the individual learning provider and the individual learner and upon the learner achieving the aims of this agreement. It is not possible to say how many learners achieved a bonus for submitting coursework on time. Bonus payments were introduced at the same time as EMA was rolled out nationally in 2004/5.
	From 2008/09 all eligible learners who enrol on an E2E program are entitled to receive EMA on a non-income assessed basis which means they receive the maximum amount of 30 award.
	The Learning and Skills Council contracted Liberata to introduce an online application system this year for the first time. We regret that a delay occurred to the launch of the new online learner application system because of some issues with the system in testing, and wanted to ensure that it was absolutely right before making it available to learners.
	It is important to note that, as in previous years, learners are able to apply for EMA by paper application forms that are available from schools, colleges, connexions services, learning providers and by calling the helpline.
	The number of applications received is broadly in line with our expectations for the year.

Education Maintenance Allowance

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families which companies bid for the education maintenance allowance contract which was awarded to Liberata; and by what criteria such bids were assessed.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF). The LSC contracts with Liberata UK Ltd to carry out the helpline, assessment and payment function. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to the hon. Member for Surrey Heath with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 15 October 2008:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Questions that asked; Which companies bid for the education maintenance allowance contract which was awarded to Liberate; and by what criteria such bids were assessed.
	Over 30 companies showed an expression of interest but only two progressed to competitive dialogue. Capita and Liberata bid for the contract to administer the Learner Support Programme, of which Education Maintenance Allowance is a part.
	The LSC carried out the procurement process in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2006 using competitive dialogue. This allowed the LSC to work closely with both bidders over a number of months ensuring that there was understanding of requirements and potential solutions on both sides. At the end of this both bidders were asked to submit a proposal and that was evaluated against an agreed evaluation model. The key criteria were quality and cost, which included making assessments of their operational delivery capability, technical solutions, project and programme management, proposals for handling transition arrangements, value for money, and sensitivity to increases in volumes of applications.

Education Maintenance Allowance: Lancashire

Rosie Cooper: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many people in West Lancashire constituency have received education maintenance allowance since its inception.

Jim Knight: This is a matter for the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) who operate the education maintenance allowance (EMA) for the Department for Children, Schools and Families (DCSF) and hold information about payments made under the scheme. Mark Haysom, the LSC's Chief Executive, will write to my hon. Friend with the information requested and a copy of his reply will be placed in the House Library.
	 Letter from Mark Haysom, dated 15 October 2008:
	I am writing in response to your Parliamentary Question that asked; How many people in West Lancashire constituency have received Education Maintenance Allowance since its inception.
	Information on the number of young people who have applied, enrolled and received Education Maintenance Allowance (EMA) is available at Local Authority Level, but not at constituency level. EMA take-up is defined as young people who have received one or more EMA payments in the academic year.
	In the first year of national roll out EMA was available to all 16 year olds across England and to 17 and 18 year olds in former pilot areas (young people who are 19 are entitled to receive EMA in certain circumstances). In 2005/06 EMA roll out continued and EMA was available to all 16 and 17 year olds nationally. In 2006/07 EMA was available to all 16, 17 and 18 year olds nationally.
	EMA take-up for Lancashire Local Authority area during each academic year since inception is as follows:
	
		
			   Number 
			 2004-05 7,081 
			 2005-06 10,564 
			 2006-07 12,995 
			 2007-08 13,396 
			 2008-09 (1)4,120 
			 (1) To end September 2008 
		
	
	EMA Take-up data showing the number of young people who have received one or more EMA payments during 2004/05, 2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 is available on the LSC website, at the following address:
	http://www.lsc.gov.uk/providers/Data/statistics/learner/EMA_take_up.htm

Families

John Mann: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many children under 11 years of age live in single-parent families in  (a) Bassetlaw constituency and  (b) England.

Kevin Brennan: I have been asked to reply.
	The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.
	 Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated October2008:
	As National Statistician, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking how many children under 11 years live in single-parent families in (a) Bassetlaw and (b) England. (225344)
	Using the Annual Population Survey household dataset for January to December 2007, the figures to the nearest thousand, are as follows:
	
		
			  Area  Number of children under 11 in single-parent families in 2007 
			 England 1,383,000 
			 Bassetlaw constituency 3,000 
		
	
	The APS household datasets are designed for analyses at the family and household levels and for person-level analyses involving the characteristics of the families and households in which people live. More information can be found here:
	http://www.statistics.gov.uk/statbase/Product.asp?vlnk=15150
	As with any sample survey, estimates from the APS are subject to a margin of uncertainty as different samples give different results.

General Certificate of Secondary Education

Graham Brady: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of children taking GCSEs in  (a) grammar schools,  (b) comprehensive schools,  (c) secondary modern schools and  (d) independent schools were awarded five or more GCSEs, broken down at (i) A* to A and (ii) A* to B grades in the most recent year for which figures are available.

Jim Knight: holding answer 6 October
	The information broken down at A*-C can be found in table 3 of the following Statistical First Release (SFR):
	DCSF: GCSE and Equivalent Examination Results in England 2006/07 (Revised)
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000768/index.shtml
	Further breakdown of grades can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

General Certificate of Secondary Education: Special Educational Needs

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families in what formats GCSE examinations are available for children  (a) with a (i) visual and (ii) hearing impairment and  (b) who are dyslexic; and how many times each such format has been used in the last three years.

Jim Knight: The regulation of public examinations in England is the responsibility of Ofqual. Ofqual requires awarding bodies to provide examination papers in appropriate formats to ensure candidates with disabilities have access to examinations.
	It is the responsibility of the Joint Council for Qualifications (JCQ) to coordinate these formats on behalf of the awarding bodies.
	Details of these formats are published in the JCQ guidance Regulations and Guidance Relating to Candidates who are Eligible for Adjustments in Examinations. This guidance is available online at
	http://www.jcq.org.uk.
	The following table sets out how many times these formats have been approved for children with  (a) (i) visual and (ii) hearing impairment and  (b) who are dyslexic in the last three years.
	
		
			  Number of requests approved for:  2005  2006  2007 
			 Reader 55,640 67,390 80,798 
			 Scribe (including voice-activated computer) 28,324 34,821 40,275 
			 Computer/word processor 14,222 16,996 21,713 
			 Extra time (more than 25 per cent. extra time) 3,383 2,393 2,489 
			 Alternative venue 1,582 1,948 1,993 
			 Use of signer 942 613 952 
			 Practical assistant 814 953 1,049 
			  Notes:  1. These figures cover AQA, Edexcel and OCR only; the three awarding bodies based in England.  2. These figures are for the number of awarding-body approved arrangements rather than the number of candidates. An individual candidate may require a number of arrangements for each examination they take and they may take examinations from more than one awarding body.

Home Education

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the total number of children under 16 years of age who are home educated in England.

Jim Knight: We have made no estimate of the number of children who are home educated in England.

Pre-school Education

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children in the 10 per cent.  (a) most and  (b) least deprived local authority areas were working securely within each of the 13 assessment scales of the Foundation Stage Assessment Profiles in each year since 2005.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 13 October 2008
	 Information is only available for seven of the 13 assessment scales and for children resident in the 30 per cent. most deprived areas. This is shown for 2007-08 in the tables which have been placed in the House of Commons Library. Further information on the proportion of children working securely within the additional six assessment scales and for earlier years can be compiled and checked only at a disproportionate cost.
	The most recent information on the Foundation Stage Profile was published in the Statistical First Release 25/2008 Foundation Stage Profile results in England 2007/08 on 18 September 2008, which is available on the Department's website
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000812/index.shtml.

Pre-school Education

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many and what proportion of children in  (a) Basingstoke,  (b) Hampshire and  (c) each region were working securely within each of the 13 assessment scales of the Foundation Stage Assessment Profiles in each year since 2005.

Beverley Hughes: holding answer 13 October 2008
	 The available information for 2005 to 2008 is shown in the tables which have been placed in the House of Commons Library. Information is not available at parliamentary constituency level.
	The most recent information on the Foundation Stage Profile was published in the Statistical First Release 25/2008 Foundation Stage Profile results in England 2007/08 on 18 September 2008, which is available on the Department's website
	http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/rsgateway/DB/SFR/s000812/index.shtml.

Pre-school Education: Finance

Maria Miller: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what assessment his Department has made of the  (a) adequacy of the funding for the extension of the free entitlement to nursery care to all two-year-olds nationwide and  (b) the ability of the private, voluntary and independent sector to meet the costs of these places.

Beverley Hughes: We are currently working with our delivery partners to develop plans to extend the free early education entitlement for two-year-olds. 63 local authorities are currently delivering up to 15 hours of free provision to the most deprived two-year-olds. 100 million funding is available to fund this pilot until April 2011. The child care strategy announced in June and to be published by the end of this year, will set out next steps. The funding for the next stages of the child care strategy will be taken in the light of the wider fiscal position.

Pupil Exclusions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many pupils received more than  (a) 10,  (b) 11,  (c) 12,  (d) 13,  (e) 14 and  (f) 15 or more fixed period exclusions in a 12-month period in each of the last five years;
	(2)  how many pupils have been given more than three fixed period exclusions in the last three years.

Jim Knight: Information on the number of pupils who have received fixed period exclusions was collected for the first time for the school year 2003/04. The available information is shown in the tables. Information on pupils who have received more than  (a) 10,  (b) 11,  (c) 12,  (d) 13,  (e) 14 and  (f) 15 fixed period exclusions can be provided only at disproportionate costs. Due to changes in the underlying data collection, information for the school year 2005/06 is only available for secondary schools.
	
		
			  Maintained primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2) : number of times pupils were excluded for a fixed period. England, 2003/04 
			  Number of fixed period exclusions per pupil  Number of pupils  Percentage 
			 1 130,410 65 
			 2 37,870 19 
			 3 16,290 8 
			 4 8,120 4 
			 5 4,180 2 
			 6 2,180 1 
			 7 1,160 1 
			 8 660 0 
			 9 400 0 
			 10 200 0 
			 More than 10 310 0 
			 Total 201,780 100 
			 Percentage of school population  2.63 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Excludes non-maintained special schools.  Note:  Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Termly Exclusions Survey. 
		
	
	
		
			  Maintained primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2) : number of times pupils were excluded for a fixed period. England, 2004/05 
			  Number of fixed period exclusions per pupil  Number of pupils  Percentage 
			 1 138,790 63 
			 2 42,510 19 
			 3 18,830 9 
			 4 9,400 4 
			 5 4,890 2 
			 6 2,880 1 
			 7 1,450 1 
			 8 860 0 
			 9 490 0 
			 10 290 0 
			 More than 10 440 0 
			 Total 220,840 100 
			 Percentage of school population  2.90 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Excludes non-maintained special schools.  Note:  Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: Termly Exclusions Survey. 
		
	
	
		
			  State funded secondary schools( 1) :( ) number of times pupils were excluded for a fixed period. England, 2005/06 
			  Number of fixed period exclusions per pupil:  Number of pupils  Percentage 
			 1 118,660 62 
			 2 37,490 19 
			 3 16,850 9 
			 4 8,840 5 
			 5 4,810 2 
			 6 2,680 1 
			 7 1,450 1 
			 8 860 0 
			 9 460 0 
			 10 310 0 
			 More than 10 370 0 
			 Total 192,750 100 
			 Percentage of the school population  5.76 
			 (1 )Includes middle schools as deemed, CTCs and academies.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. 
		
	
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1, 2, 3) : number of times pupils were excluded for a fixed period. England, 2006/07 
			  Number of fixed period exclusions per pupil  Number of pupils  Percentage 
			 1 138,390 61 
			 2 43,220 19 
			 3 20,080 9 
			 4 10,630 5 
			 5 6,050 3 
			 6 3,460 2 
			 7 2,050 1 
			 8 1,200 1 
			 9 770 0 
			 10 490 0 
			 More than 10 830 0 
			 Total 227,160 100 
			 Percentage of the school population  3 
			
			 Number of pupils who subsequently received a permanent exclusion in 2006/07(4) 6,080 (5)3 
			 (1 )Includes middle schools as deemed. (2 )Includes both CTCs and academies. (3 )Includes both maintained and non-maintained special schools. (4 )The number of pupils who received a permanent exclusion in 2006/07 after previously being excluded for a fixed period by the same school during the 2006/07 school year. (5 )The percentage of all pupils with a fixed period exclusion who later were permanently excluded during 2006/07.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source:  School Census

Pupil Exclusions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many pupils were given more than one fixed period exclusion in a 12 month period in each of the last five years; and how many such pupils were eligible for free school meals.

Jim Knight: Information on the number of pupils who were given more than one fixed period exclusion and their eligibility for free school meals can be provided only at disproportionate cost. The available information on the number of fixed period exclusions (including any multiple exclusions) and free school meal eligibility is shown in the following tables and covers the school years 2005-06 and 2006-07. Information for 2004-05 can be provided only at disproportionate cost.
	
		
			  State funded secondary schools( 1,2) : Number of fixed period exclusions by free school meal eligibility 2005-06, England 
			   State funded secondary schools( 2) 
			   Number of exclusions  Exclusions per 100 of the school population( 3) 
			  Fixed period exclusions( 4)   
			 Pupils eligible for free school meals 105,530 23.04 
			 Other pupils 238,280 8.25 
			 All pupils(5) 348,380 10.46 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes both CTCs and academies. Information is as reported by schools. (3) The number of exclusions per 100 of the school population (excluding dually registered pupils) as at January 2006. (4) For 2005-06 a change in the underlying method of data collection means that data on fixed period exclusions from primary and special schools is not available. (5) Totals include 4,600 fixed period exclusions with unclassified free school meal eligibility.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10. 
		
	
	
		
			  Primary, secondary and special schools( 1,2,3) : Number of fixed period exclusions by free school meal eligibility, England 2006-07 
			   Number of exclusions  Exclusions per 100 of the school population( 4)  Number of exclusions  Exclusions per 100 of the school population( 4)  Number of exclusions  Exclusions per 100 of the school population( 4)  Number of exclusions  Exclusions per 100 of the school population( 4) 
			  Fixed period exclusions 
			 Pupils eligible for free school meals 21,020 3.21 109,940 24.75 7,360 25.61 138,320 12.27 
			 Other pupils 24,250 0.70 251,450 8.74 9,060 14.98 284,760 4.46 
			 All pupils(5) 45,730 1.11 363,270 10.94 16,600 18.56 425,600 5.66 
			 (1) Includes middle schools as deemed. (2) Includes both CTCs and Academies. Information is as reported by schools. (3) Includes both maintained special and non-maintained special schools. (4) The number of exclusions per 100 of the school population (excluding dually registered pupils) as at January 2007. (5) Totals include 2,530 fixed period exclusions with unclassified free school meal eligibility.  Note: Totals may not appear to equal the sum of component parts because numbers have been rounded to the nearest 10.  Source: School Census

Pupils: Exclusions

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  which 20 maintained schools had the greatest  (a) number and  (b) proportion of pupils (i) excluded and (ii) permanently excluded for (A) physical assault against an adult, (B) physical assault against a pupil and (C) bullying in the most recent year for which figures are available;
	(2)  which 20 maintained schools issued the  (a) highest and  (b) lowest number of (i) permanent and (ii) fixed-term exclusions in the most recent academic year for which figures are available; and how many such exclusions were issued by each such school.

Jim Knight: The information could be provided only at disproportionate costs.

Pupils: Per Capita Costs

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of school funding per pupil for each primary and secondary school in Yeovil constituency in  (a) 2007-08 and  (b) 2008-09; what the average funding level for all English schools is for each of those years; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Department allocates education funding to local authorities so the requested information for Yeovil constituency is not available.
	The per pupil revenue funding figures for years 2007-08 to 2008-09 for Somerset local authority and England are provided in the following table. Since 2006-07, the Dedicated Schools Grant (DSG) is the main source of school funding. As the DSG is distributed through a single guaranteed unit of funding per pupil, a primary/secondary split is not available.
	
		
			   2007-08 DSG plus grants  2008-09 DSG plus grant s 
			 Somerset 4,130 4,350 
			 England 4,530 4,690 
			  Notes: 1. This covers funding through the Dedicated Schools Grant, School Standards Grant, School Standards Grant (Personalisation) and Standards Fund as well as funding from the Learning and Skills Council; it excludes grants which are not allocated at LA level. 2. These figures are for all funded pupils aged three to 19. 3. Figures have been rounded to the nearest 10. Price Base: Cash. 4. Some of the grant allocations have not been finalised. If these do change, the effect on the funding figures is expected to be minimal. 5. The actual revenue funding that individual schools in England receive via their school budget shares is a matter for individual local authorities to decide locally through their own local funding formulae (subject to satisfying the minimum funding guarantee for schools from 2004-05 onwards). Consequently, the amount of money allocated to each school in England depends very much on the individual local authorities' own policy for funding their schools. Different authorities retain varying amounts of funding centrally to spend on behalf of their schools while others chose to give schools more autonomy over how they spend their money by devolving more funding to the individual schools.

School Meals

Michael Gove: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what estimate he has made of the number of  (a) primary and  (b) secondary schools which do not have a kitchen capable of providing hot meals.

Jim Knight: I refer the hon. Member to the reply given by my hon. Friend the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Schools and Learners on 15 October,  Official Report, column 1295W.

Schools: Assessments

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  how many and what percentage of mainstream maintained schools did not enter any pupils for  (a) a GCSE and  (b) an A-level in history in each year since 2005;
	(2)  how many and what percentage of mainstream maintained schools did not enter any pupils for  (a) a GCSE and  (b) an A-level in geography in each year since 2005.

Jim Knight: 145 mainstream maintained schools did not enter any pupils for an A-level in history in 2006/07. This was 8 per cent. of mainstream maintained schools.
	264 mainstream maintained schools did not enter any pupils for an A-level in geography in 2006/07. This was 15 per cent. of mainstream maintained schools.
	Figures for GCSE and other years are not readily available and can be provided only at disproportionate cost.

Schools: Internet

Jeremy Hunt: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families 
	(1)  what assessment he has made of school responses to the questions on e-safety in Ofsted's 2008 Self Evaluation Form;
	(2)  if he will place in the Library a copy of the snapshot report of school responses to question 4b of the self evaluation form provided to his Department by Ofsted.

Jim Knight: Ofsted has conducted a snap-shot assessment of schools' responses to questions of e-safety in the self-evaluation form, in response to the report of the Byron Review. It will publish this shortly and a copy will be placed in the Library.

Schools: Local Authorities

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families what proportion of pupils in secondary schools attended their nearest maintained school in the latest period for which figures are available, broken down by each local authority; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The information requested can be provided only at a disproportionate cost.

Schools: Standards

David Laws: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families when the independent evaluation of the Making Good Progress pilot will be published; and if he will make a statement.

Jim Knight: The Making Good Progress pilot is being externally evaluated by PricewaterhouseCoopers and a final evaluation report is due in the autumn of 2009. PricewaterhouseCoopers will also be publishing an interim report on the first year of the pilot later this year.

Specialist Schools: Languages

Nick Gibb: To ask the Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families how many mainstream maintained secondary schools are designated as specialist language colleges.

Jim Knight: 352 maintained schools in England are designated as having a language specialism, of which 220 are specialist language colleges, 20 are specialist schools which have languages combined with another specialism and 112 are other specialist schools which have languages as a second specialism.